Kaotic Interference
by Goth Albino Angel
Summary: This is just a 'book' about the 90th Hunger Games. The full explanation is inside, but this is only about the FIRST book because I haven't read the other two yet. Slight PxK that's why its here.
1. Chapter 1

Ok, this is the only Author's Note through the entire story until the very end. Likewise, this is the only DISCLAIMER so pay attention. _**I'm planning for this story to read just like an actual book or as close to one as possible. I've been working on it since the end of January so if you decide to criticize me, go ahead, depending on how accurate it is, I'll see if I follow it. Sometimes, I might tear down the fourth wall and make it seem as though Kaos is writing this rather than just recounting the events. **Anyway this is a female/female story, so if you're not into that... *shrug* it's not my problem. I have nothing against it (obviously). _**Anyway the story is narrated in first person by a kickass chick with a very BIG secret. So, try to enjoy it if you can. If not... *shrug* again, it's not my problem, it's YOUR preference. Curiosity hasn't killed THIS cat so try it out. **_Now, DISCLAIMER (I said it twice and all caps so yes, I'm going to actually do it): I do not own anything in the Hunger Games universe and I am not looking to make any profit from this, merely to entertain readers with the joyous ideas created by Suzanne Collins. Enjoy_

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><p><strong>Chapter One<strong>

I sighed as I expertly threw my knife and killed yet another rabbit. I was in the forest on my own again because I had to do the day's hunting. Most would wonder why a fifteen-year-old was in the woods hunting when there should be a man doing it instead. Well, what most don't know is that my father is too busy running a dairy shop and my mother was constantly somewhere else, so I had to fend for myself when it came to getting meat for us to eat.

This was my fifth rabbit today and hopefully that meant that I could get a good amount of food for the family feast tonight. Yes, you guessed it: today was the Reaping. I was the only one in my family still eligible. I was eligible for another three years after this one and then someone else would have to take my place. I sighed again; it's a thing with me, I do it a lot.

Slinging the five rodents over my shoulder, I began making my way to the Black Market. I loved calling it that because it made me feel better than calling it the Hob. I approached Greasy Sae first because she was my highest paying customer. I was going to sell four of the rabbits today and keep one for my family. One of the rabbits was for the Birdseed family, who loved to stew them and another was for the Plantiwether family, who loved to roast rabbits. Greasy Sae examined the rabbits and chose a medium-sized one, giving me fresh greens in return for it.

"Oh, Kaos?" I turned back with a puzzled expression. "I've got a special treat for you. Since you're always bringing down meat for my broths and stews and soups, I'm gonna give ya somethin' special fer yer family's feast tonight."

I watched her curiously as she handed me a basket. "Fresh strawberries, eh? Fer you and yer parents. That ought to get ther spirits up a pint."

"Thanks Sae. See you at the Reaping today."

"Count on it."

I was back on the move. When I arrived at the Birdseed residence, the male opened the door. He thought he intimidated me because of his hulking size, but I simply stared up at him patiently, waiting for him to speak.

"Do you have the rabbit?" he growled out slowly.

"Yes, I do. Do you have my pay?" He raised an eyebrow.

"What pay? The Missus never said anything about paying you."

I sighed in frustration. "Mrs. Birdseed usually gives me half a loaf of bread and a cob of corn in return for the rabbit."

The man scratched his head and sighed. "Pity, you're a trustworthy one. I was hoping you would lie about it so I could report you for thievery. Alright then, here's your pay." He handed me a basket with the food in it and I handed over the rabbit. He took it with a grunt of thanks and slammed the door.

I whistled to myself as I trekked next door to the Plentiwether house. Thankfully, Mrs. Plentiwether was the one to open the door. We exchanged a few words on my father and she gladly handed me another half loaf of bread and some carrots. I gave her a soft polite smile in thanks and hurried back home.

Setting the food on the table with a note, I went to my room to get dressed. Mother and Father slept out in the open area and I had the small room in the back of the house. They agreed that I should have my privacy and I wholeheartedly went with it as long as they didn't do their marriage business on the kitchen table. Stripping myself down, I quickly washed any dirt or filth from my hair and body before wrapping a towel around myself and looking through my closet. I found the gaudy dress Mother wanted me to wear for the Reapings, but I refused to get into anything that made me uncomfortable.

Finding the clean set of clothing that I always kept for special occasions and slid into it. Wringing out my shoulderblade-length red-blonde hair, I nimbly braided it down the back and lounged on my bed for a moment. I must have dozed off for a few moments because the next thing I knew, my mother was knocking at my door telling me that the Reaping was soon to start.

"Meet you there, Mother!" I called, slipping out of my window and stealing down the street. They knew I would be there already so they knew to just come on their own… and that's the way they liked it.

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><p>I stood among the other fifteen-year-old girls, all of them with terror on their faces. I don't get why everyone here is always so afraid of death; I mean, it's nothing to laugh at, but I'm not going to cry for it. I couldn't believe Effie Trinket was still even alive, to be honest, but I guess the Capitol had developed something or other to make her still look young, they probably did it to all the people there.<p>

Anyway, Effie began speaking and I had to stop myself from covering my ears at how shrill her voice was. "Hello everyone and welcome to the 90th annual selection of tributes for the Games. As you know, there will be one girl and one boy to be picked to represent…"

I zoned out after awhile and just stopped listening until it was time to sing the Capitol's anthem. I must admit, I didn't know one single word of it. It's not that no one taught me, but I had let the information slip my mind because I wasn't going to honor people who were wreaking havoc on my home. So, I merely stood with my mouth shut as everyone else sang. At long last, the fun part came and I looked intently up at Effie as she drew the boy tribute.

"Grudge Withers!" she called, looking around.

I sighed in distaste. Grudge Withers was a boy that kept quiet almost all the time, he barely ever said more than one sentence every five minutes and he always kept to himself. Luckily enough, he was large, strong, somewhat muscular from wrestling for the school even though he's only one a few matches. He would make an acceptable victor for the district.

Now, anticipation boiled in my stomach as Effie drew the female tribute. I was hoping against everything that she pulled my name from the giant ball. Effie pulled the ballot out and I leaned forward, ready to jump over this useless line when she called out—"Gigi Weedlestrom!"

What? **_Really?_** After all I went through to make certain that my name was the one pulled, some other girl got the privilege of defending the district against the Capitol? I swallowed the angry bile rising in my throat and turned to leave, melting into the girls around me. I was nearing the back when I realized that everyone was looking around bemusedly. I cocked my head in confusion and heard someone call out. "She died in bed this morning, Ma'am. Had a severe case of the flu that turned fatal."

Effie sighed and nodded, pulling another ballot. I was just about to disappear from the Square completely when I froze.

"Kaos Andyscord!"

A slow smile swept across my lips for a split second before I squashed it and turned, making my way back to the front. All of the girls parted for me as I leaned back and jumped over the rope. I knew the crowd was surprised that I didn't bother dressing fancy for the occasion. Instead, I had on a clean uniform of my normal clothing: A tank top and a pair of loose jeans. I walked calmly up to the podium and greeted Effie. She held out her hand for me to shake and I gave her a smile, but didn't shake with her.

Effie pulled her hand away and coughed. "Well, you all know the previous victors are to mentor the two new tributes so everyone put their hands together for Katniss and Peeta!"

Scattered applause rang out as Katniss and Peeta appeared. I sized Katniss up in an instant. She was strong, bold, somewhat pessimistic, obviously skilled with the bow she had on her back and she seemed fierce. I would like toying with her. Peeta, on the other hand, was strong and bold too, but his disposition was somewhat brighter than Katniss', he didn't seem skilled with any particular weapon and he didn't seem as fierce as Katniss, but gentler. It would be no fun playing with him.

"Alright, well." Effie coughed slightly after a small silence between the tributes and their mentors. "The tributes will be leaving soon, so anyone wishing to say goodbye…"

I zoned out again, knowing that I would simply just go to the Justice Building to await my family telling me goodbye with jubilance in their voices. I had no friends who would come say goodbye to me, so I simply shrugged it all off my shoulders and walked away when we were dismissed. I would prove to them all that I was worth their attention.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter two**

I sat in the Justice Building lounging on one of the couches, waiting for my family to come in and wish me goodbye. I was staring up at the ceiling wishing I could be anywhere but here. I heard footsteps and my ears perked up. Slowly, the door opened and my mother and father walked in.

"Kaos?"

"Yes, Mother?" I asked softly.

"Um, I wanted to say goodbye since this might be the last time I ever see you." Wow, thanks for the moral support Mother. No confidence in your daughter, eh? Nice.

"But I really think that boy might actually be able to win us some food this year. He looks big and strong, not very fast, but kind of cunning." I turned away from her so she wouldn't see the dejection on my face. She was rooting for Grudge. She was rooting for a boy she didn't even know over her own daughter. So typical of her. I sighed and nodded.

"Kay Mother. Goodbye to you too." There was a short silence before my dad gave me an awkward pat on the back and they both left. Good riddance to them both. After today, I won't have to see either one again. Sighing, I prepared to leave when a knock at the door sounded.

"Come in." I called, sitting up straighter since I didn't think anyone else would bother coming to wish me goodbye. In walked Greasy Sae and a few others that I usually traded with in the Hob.

"Hey Kaos." They said softly and I nodded to them.

"What, um, what are you guys doing here?"

"We wanted to wish ya good luck, lil' one." Greasy Sae told me. "We know ya'll be the one to make us proud in them Games. Jus' remember who ya are and ya'll be fine."

The others all shot me thumbs-ups and smiles. I grinned at them and they all left, giving me claps on the back and such. I sat in there for a moment longer, feeling slight warmth radiating in my chest to know that someone at least believed in me.

Another knock at the door sounded and I was surprised to see three kids from my class filing in. They shifted uneasily under my curious gaze and the male rushed back out.

"Kaos, we, uh, we wanted to wish you good luck in the Games." The brunette, Marissa told me.

"Yeah, we know you'll do good against most of those other tributes." The blonde, Magpie, added.

"How can you be so sure?" I asked softly.

"Because we've seen you in PE and our families buy some of your meat everyday." Marissa replied.

"You can definitely outdo and outsmart those other tributes." Magpie grinned. I smiled up at them.

"Thanks girls. That means a lot to me."

"We, um, we brought you a present to take with you." From behind her back, Marissa produced a jar with a green, blue and yellow butterfly inside. My eyes widened in shock.

"How did you ever get a Foreverfly?" I asked in awe.

"We've had it for awhile now, feeding it and taking care of it. We just didn't know if we wanted it following us everywhere we went because it could get eaten or something. But we want you to have it so that you have a friend to be with you during the Games and keep you company."

Marissa held the jar out to me and I slowly took it, opening it and sticking my finger inside to stroke the butterfly within. Foreverflies were an experiment by the Capitol. They were genetically changed butterflies that were loyal to one person only. If you were the first person to ever touch a Foreverfly, it was your companion for life, aiding you when you needed it and being there for comfort. It would have a direct channel to your emotions so that it could help you as best it could. My Foreverfly was female and she was ever so beautiful.

"Mariposa." I murmured, stroking the wings as she climbed into my hand. I looked back up at the two girls and gave them a brilliant smile. Slowly standing, I gave each of them a loose hug and thanked them.

"We'd better go before our parents catch us." Marissa mumbled, a blush creeping up her cheeks.

"Goodbye Kaos, and good luck." Magpie murmured, turning as she did so. And they were gone.

I smiled and continued stroking Mariposa gently. "Come on, Mariposa, we had better get going."

She fluttered her wings and we stood, heading for the train. The platform was filled with people waving goodbye and counting on us to make sure that they got food for another year. I waved to them all with a small half smile on my face before turning and boarding the train.

"Kaos, your room is down that way right across from Katniss'." I nodded and headed only catching Effie's last sentence of dinner at six before I disappeared into the room.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter three**

I refused to cry. Of that, I was certain. There was no reason to cry since I really had nothing much to look forward to if I lived. So here I was, staring at the ceiling as the train moved. The others would probably expect me to change into something the Capitol has prepared for me like a fluffy dress or something, but I'm perfectly fine without. I like feeling free in my clothing. Jeans provide protection and if they're loose, then they also provide ventilation. Tank tops provide arm movement room and clung to my thin frame to show off somewhat powerful muscles. From the little bit of clothing I saw from past Games, the people seemed to always dress fancy with numerous different shades and hues of hair and skin colors.

I sighed and looked at a clock on the wall near me. It read five fifteen. I nodded to myself and began taking inventory of what I had on me. There was my pocketknife necklace, the hidden knife in my boot and my favorite knife at my hip. I hadn't changed clothes, so I still had on a tank top and jeans. Mariposa was with me, but I had let my hair down because I liked it free. I also had leather gloves in one pocket just in case I needed to handle rope. I nodded to myself and smiled. Everything I needed to survive was literally on my body at the moment.

I shrugged and decided to have a look around the train. It was never expressly forbidden that the tributes look around, but there are designated eating times so that no two Districts were together at once. I moved toward the kitchen area because I was bored and stopped to look into a compartment room. There didn't seem to be anything special inside other than a bit of scattered belongings.

I was about to move on when a door a little ways in front of me opened and a girl stepped out. She turned to me and her eyes widened. I couldn't stop myself from staring. The girl wasn't overly fat or muscular like most of the larger Districts, but she wasn't really, really thin like the lesser Districts. But from the air she gave off, she was clearly from District One or Two. She seemed of regular weight and height, with brown hair flowing a little past her shoulders and bangs hanging over her eyes. Blue eyes. Shockingly blue eyes. Brown hair and blue eyes. The perfect combination to get my heart pumping fast. The girl and I stared at each other for a time before I slowly broke eye contact with her and turned around, calmly heading back to my own compartment even though my heart was going ninety two miles per minute. When I got back to my room, I leaned against the door and put a hand to my chest.

"What just happened?" I asked myself. "Who _was_ that girl? What was she doing? Why am I asking these questions out loud?"

I flopped back down on my bed and looked at the clock. It was now five twenty five. It had taken three minutes to do inventory and I had walked along the train for another four which means that I was staring at that girl for three full minutes. I got a small exhilarated kick out of the fact that she had also stared back. I shook the thoughts out of my head because she was most likely a tribute, which meant competition. I was screwed.

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><p>I moved out of my compartment at five fifty-five and made my way to the kitchen area, praying I didn't run into the brown-haired blue-eyed girl again. Thankfully, I made it to the buffet table without any interruptions and I surveyed the food intently. There were tons of soups, salads, meats and something that I think was called chowder. Moving forward, I sat down and began piling my plate high with meat and lettuce. The lettuce was only so that I didn't get a massive stomachache from the meat, just in case it gave me food poisoning.<p>

Three minutes after I sat down, Katniss and Peeta entered. They had obviously just finished showering, but from the smell radiating off of them, they hadn't done it well enough. I smirked at Katniss as she sat down across from me and she gave me a hard stare which didn't make my smirk falter one bit.

"Cozy train ride so far?" I asked Peeta, who blushed a light pink and commenced eating a chicken leg. I chuckled to myself as Grudge appeared a moment later with Effie Trinket not too far behind. They both immediately began eating as the television set began displaying the tributes.

Just as I suspected, the girl that I had seen earlier was a tribute and she was from District One. I decided not to pay attention to the other tributes since I would see them soon enough anyway. Instead, I focused more on a particularly tough piece of ham that was just begging me to try and take a sizeable bite out of it. By the time I finally got the meat off of the bone, they had finally made it down to District Twelve. I watched as Grudge walked into the train without a word, but I turned back and gave them all a smile before I turned and walked onto the train, my strawberry blonde hair blowing slightly from the trains steam. I smiled and continued eating.

When we were finished, I stood and made my way to my room. "I'll come get you in the morning so that you can get ready for your big, big day." Trinket called after me. I smiled at the sheer absurdity of the woman and continued to my room.

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><p>The next day was supposed to be the day we made our grand entrance into the Capitol. All of the tributes lined up by District number and began making their way out. But they did something new this year. Instead of the numbers being in order, they made us stand so that it was the first District and then the last District and then the second District and the second to last District and so on. So, naturally, I was standing behind the girl from District One and I was a little squirm-ish. As she walked out, I caught the faint scent coming off her hair: Mango. I licked my lips as she and the boy with her walked out and waved to the crowd.<p>

Next was me and Grudge. We walked out together and I smiled at the large crowd that had gathered. Flicking a loose strand of hair out of my eyes, I looked around at the crowd as we walked forward. I added a bit of sway to my hips that made a few men sigh as I walked past. I grinned and continued onto the hotel where all of the tributes stood side-by-side waiting for their mentors and/or 'supporters' which is just what I called Trinket and the other people who pull the ballot for the Reaping.

Katniss and Peeta had the loudest applause there could have been so it took them longer to arrive since they had to sign autographs and pose for pictures. I could tell neither was comfortable with the idea, but they had to look good for the Capitol. _Of course,_ I thought, _Always have to play the peacocks, never get to be the puppeteers._

When it was finally our turn to head into the elevator, I pushed the button for floor number twelve and was the first one to step out of the crowded space.

"You have until seven to relax before you have to meet your groomers and stylists to get ready for the large presentation." Katniss told us. I think she was more at ease at taking control of things than Peeta. I was _definitely_ going to have fun with this girl.

"Whatever you do, don't resist anything the groomers do to you." Peeta added. I raised an eyebrow at this and he seemed to understand the underlying question because he added, "Unless it's something that's so intrusive you can't stand it, don't resist."

I nodded and made my way to the bedroom marked, 'Chaos'. For the love of…! I growled under my breath and stared at my room door. Using my nails, which I keep sharp just in case I get in a fight, I began scratching at my door.

"What are you doing?" Trinket and Katniss demanded as they rushed over.

"I came here, I didn't resist getting on the train, I'm about to die for a cause that is **_completely_** unneeded…" I turned to them in triumphant fury. "The _least_ they could have done was spell my **name** right!"

Katniss and Trinket both looked to the door and noticed that I had completely scratched out the 'C' and added a line to the 'h' to make it a capital 'K'.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to clean the filth from beneath my nails and silently rant about the indecency the Capitol just displayed to me. Can't even spell my name right…"

I turned on my heel and slammed my bedroom door, heading straight for the large fluffy bed. Flopping down onto it, I pulled out one of my knives and began scraping wood shavings from underneath my nails.

I've always loved scratching wood, it's always been a fun thing to do when I was bored, but seriously? The Capitol could have at least made an effort to spell my name right. And I have absolutely **no intention** of dying for their stupid cause anyway. I will be victorious in this year's Games and the Capitol will be the one that gets punished. I smiled as I finished flicking the last bit of wood from under my nails and replaced my knife at my hip.

Yawning, I decided to get some sleep since a clock on the wall read five-eighteen. I slowly curled up and drifted off to sleep, thinking of hunting game in the woods rather than hunting humans in some unknown remote location. I was jolted out of my dreaming what felt like mere minutes later by Katniss knocking on my door and calling me to get up.

"Kaos? It's time to get up; you need to go meet your stylists."

These stylists better be good if I'm getting woken up because of them.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter four**

My groomers, Boralia and Conectivo, were very… loud. Everything they said sounded like it was being shouted to the high heavens. I tried to stay very still and quiet as they scrubbed me down and waxed me (something I NEVER want to go through again. I'll have these bruises until the day I die!). By the time they were finished, the only hair on my body was my eyelashes, my eyebrows and the top of my head. I was stoic as they crooned over my skin, which seemed to glow underneath the fluorescents because of its pallor. On the inside, I was shuddering in disgust at being so vulnerable in so many different places of my body with their eyes on every part of me.

At last, a young man, a bit shorter than me came in and shooed them away. As I stood before him, trying my hardest not to cover myself up, I surveyed him. He seemed to be genuinely early in his twenties with simple brown hair with blue streaks here and there and striking brown eyes.

"Hello Kaos, my name is Pinto. I'll get you a robe; your fingers are practically itching to get to something to cover yourself up with." I was surprised. My fingers hadn't been twitching and I hadn't moved an inch since the waxing and rewashing. He was an intelligent one, that was for sure. He handed me a silken blue robe and I hastened to put it on, tying the sash tight and sighing in relief.

"Alright, Kaos, let's see…" Pinto began walking around me, observing every part of me.

"Is this your natural hair color?" he asked, fingering one of my red-blonde locks.

"Yes." I replied softly, not sure what was going to come out of my mouth and not wanting to talk any louder after Boralia and Conectivo.

Pinto nodded and looked at my skin. "Are you sick?"

"No, I just stay out of the sun a lot because it hurts my eyes so much."

"Well, I have an idea for you, Kaos. Since your name means something along the lines of destruction, I think we'll give you a destroyed look, hm?" I cocked my head to him.

"Your hair is so beautiful. White at the roots and getting blonder as it moved back, the blonde turning gradually to orange and the orange turning gradually to red. It's the perfect thing to make you look like your head is on fire."

I had a flash of artificial flame and prayed he didn't give me that. I knew of Katniss and Peeta's artificial flames and I wasn't so trusting of this man who seemed so different from Katniss' Cinna, yet so like him.

Pinto made me take off my robe, closing my eyes for a moment, and I heard the rustle of fabric. After a moment, a long-sleeved shirt was pulled gently over my head followed by a pair of pants carefully being pulled up my legs. I fought to keep a blush down at such an embarrassing thing and opened my eyes. Pinto was standing before me with a smirk and a pair of low-heeled boots.

"Put them on yourself?" he asked and I nodded gratefully, slipping into the boots with ease. "Now, do you mind if I do your hair up?"

I studied him for a moment before slowly nodding, wishing flames could hang downwards too. Pinto began gelling my hair up, sculpting it to look like flames roaring high above a building, I guess.

When he was finished, he looked me over and a look of confusion passed over his features. "Something doesn't seem right with the look. The flames should look perfect…"

He stared hard at me for a moment before his eyes widened. "Oh, I know!" Moving back over to me, Pinto quickly began remodeling my hair. He pulled some of it down over my shoulders and some of it was behind me, but none of it was sticking straight up in the air. Pinto nodded with an accomplished smile adorning his lips. "That's perfect."

I smiled at him and looked down at myself. I was confused at the outfit he had put me in. It was very strange looking with different colors in different spots and so many different shapes.

I looked back up at him with a small smile and he led me out to the chariots. Peeta came out with Grudge a moment later and the two of us slowly stepped up. I scooted a little away from Grudge to give him his space and we settled into the chariots; I wanted to ride on the horses themselves, such beautiful steeds, but I knew that it might have been against the rules. I relaxed back into the chariot, sending a smile at Pinto as the horses in front of us slowly began moving.

As the horse-drawn open carriage began moving, I closed my eyes and counted to three before plastering a toothy smile on my face and keeping my eyes straight ahead. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Grudge doing the same, just without the smile. I hadn't been able to get a really good look at him while we were in the darkened room, but now I could see him. Grudge was wearing a scarlet suit with different demons frolicking here and there, causing mischief to random people. I thought it looked really good on him to be honest.

Suddenly, I heard something completely new: People were shouting my name. At first, I thought I was hearing things because no way could anyone-there it was again. As we raced along the streets, people were shouting my name. "Kaos! Kaos! Kaos!"

I grinned wider at this new experience; people were actually looking at me with something other than fear or indifference or contempt. They were looking at me in awe and adoration. I sent cheeky smiles to the crowd and even winked at a few people. But when the time came for us to make a curve in the large circular viewing… _place_, the horses were spooked by something in the street and made the turn too sharply.

Of _course_ Grudge managed to stay in the carriage unfazed, but I found myself swinging outward. In an effort to stay in, I grabbed the side of the chariot and as it swung, I swung with it, before slipping back in. The crowd was going crazy at the stunt; they obviously thought it was planned and I smiled to myself to know I had pulled it off.

We sit patiently as President Redmoon greeted us (President Snow had died five years previous). Finally, we were heading inside the Training Center and as soon as our chariot was inside, I immediately jumped out of it and glared at whoever was looking at me.

"If I **ever** have to ride in these things again, I'm riding on the horse."

* * *

><p>"That was amazing!" Trinket shouted when we entered our hotel suite. "Kaos, how did you plan that trick with the horses?"<p>

"I didn't." I snarled, rearranging my hair back to the way I liked it. "The horses made the turn too sharply and I nearly fell out. I _hate_ riding in something pulled by horses, I'd much rather be on the horse."

"How have you ever ridden a horse before?" Katniss asked me in surprise. I gave her a secretive smile and shook my head before turning to my room.

"I'm going to go change into something more suitable for a girl who just nearly had her life threatened before it was supposed to be."

"And what outfit is suitable for that?" Peeta asked curiously.

"Tank top and jeans, duh. If my life is going to be threatened, I want to look good while fighting for it." I sauntered to my room and changed out of the outfit Pinto had put me in. Quickly changing into a black tank top and some dark blue cargo jeans, I made my way back out just in time to watch the beginning of the chariot presentation, as I had grown to call it.

District One was beautiful. The boy had been decked out in a shining suit of armor with rhinestones and jewels all over it and an artificial sword hung at his side, encrusted with sapphires. It was as though they had dumped an entire vat of crushed diamond onto the girl. She sparkled in the lights and dazzled everyone with a smile. The dress she wore was simple so that her outfit wasn't redundant to the sparkles of her skin. She was breathtaking. For the rest of the presentation, I couldn't focus on much more than the fact that this girl was magnificent with or without decoration.

My attention was only stolen from District One when I heard my name and looked back at the television set. There I was with Grudge at my side. Looking at the outfit now, I realized that Pinto had made me look like a building going to ruin. The shirt was the ruined top of a building that looked to have been blown out and then my pants were consisting of people hanging out windows calling for help with my boots finishing off the look by showing that the door to the building was blocked by debris. My hair had been crafted over my shoulder on the side of the building that had been blown out and Pinto had made it flow behind me in a way to look like flames blowing in the wind. I would really have to congratulate him when I saw him next.

When it had ended, I shot a smile at Katniss who actually returned it to me. "You did good Kaos." She said. "Just, next time, try to stay in the carriage."

She, Peeta and Trinket began laughing and I merely gave them a catty smile despite the anger and embarrassment bubbling in my stomach. I escaped back to my room as soon as I could and lay on my back, staring at the ceiling speculatively.

Why was I so entranced by this girl from the richest District? I was going to kill her soon enough anyway, why bother pay any attention to her at all other than her special fields of weaponry. Setting my jaw, I decided to watch her in the training arenas tomorrow while I was checking out the different things I could learn. Nodding, I saw Mariposa fluttering down and smiled at my little butterfly.

"Let's get some sleep, Mariposa."

She gave a soft flutter of her wings and lay down, as though to say, _Another big, big day tomorrow?_

I chuckled lightly and set her on the windowsill, making sure the window was shut tight, and rolled over to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

I woke up at the crack of dawn the next morning and quickly jumped into the shower. Dressing in some training clothes (i.e. a tank top and sweatpants), I made my way out of my room to get an early breakfast and see if there was anything interesting on the television. Grabbing a warm biscuit from the buffet table, I sat on a beanbag and studied what was happening on the TV.

After several moments of mindlessly staring at the set without really seeing what was going on, I decided to head up to the roof for some fresh air. Mariposa dutifully stayed in the hotel because she knew about my fears of her getting eaten. I leaned forward onto the ledge and watched as the Capitol began waking up from a long night. The first few hundred cars were already on the road, inching their way toward their destinations as their drivers probably sipped coffee or something else to wake them up. I smiled as I looked up at the rising sun, just past the horizon. Deciding that the others would probably be waking up in a few minutes, I began making my way back down.

As I reached the door to the stairs, it opened and the _last_ person I wanted to see today came walking out with two or three other people with her. I stopped as she caught sight of me and we stared at each other.

"Ooh, a bit of hostility already, huh? That's nice."

I really wanted to hit the boy that was talking because he was ruining this beautiful moment in which I could just get lost in the blue eyes… I jolted myself out of my haze and said, "Excuse me."

"Excuse you?" One girl asked snidely. "You mean, 'move'?"

I rolled my eyes. "No, I mean 'please pass the blonde'; yes I mean 'move'."

They stared at me and the girl from District One chuckled. "She got you there, Shimmer. Come on, let's move out of her way."

I nodded to her and made my way down the stairs. Heading back to my floor, I plopped into a beanbag and sighed. _It must have been the tension. _I told myself._ I couldn't look away because of the hostility and the threat she emanated. _I took a breath and nodded to myself. "That works, I'll use that."

At that moment, Mariposa fluttered down and landed on my chest. _Is something wrong?_

"Everything's going to go perfectly, Mariposa." I told her, stroking her wings.

"What's going to go perfectly?" Katniss asked, appearing in the doorway and moving over to the buffet table.

"The Games. They're going to go exactly as everyone expects them to."

Katniss raised an eyebrow and I shot her a smug smile, knowing she was getting suspicious of my behavior. "Where were you just now?" she asked slowly, taking a seat in an armchair and chewing a biscuit. "Effie was knocking for you."

I shrugged. "I needed to go up to the roof to clear my head. You know, training day and everything."

"Speaking of training…" Peeta said as he and Grudge walked in. "You two need to make sure you don't show your talents to the other tributes. Anything you're especially good at needs to be kept secret until the private training session with the Gamemakers."

Katniss giggled. "I remember when we were getting prepped for the training arenas. Haymitch was such a-." Peeta shot her a look and Katniss blushed. "He was really strict on what we needed to do."

"We visited the knot-tying and the camouflage."

"Which you excelled at." Katniss pointed out.

"What ever happened to Haymitch?" I asked casually.

"He was killed by some giant cat thing." Peeta told me. "It was some freak accident in the woods."

"Peeta wouldn't let me hunt for three weeks after that." Katniss sighed. "He'd like you, Kaos. Really fierce and independent. He'd dub you perfect for the job."

I stared down at my hands. "Well, it's a pity some forest cat got to him."

"Alright, alright, alright!" I groaned inwardly as Trinket bounced into the room. "It's time for the two tributes to head to the training arenas with the others!"

I sighed as I stood. Let's see what the 'others' have got.

* * *

><p>My first impression of the training arena was a gymnasium. I looked around the training arena intently, watching the other tributes with interest as Mariposa flapped beside me and Grudge went off on his own. It didn't look like they were holding back their true talents; actually, most of the Careers were showing off. I never did like arrogant idiots. I surveyed the most pompous ones to see which should be targeted first. There was the boy from District Four and, naturally, his girl counterpart. The boy from District Three and the girl from District Two were the ones to stand out the most. I curled my lip in distaste and turned my back to them.<p>

I decided to do as Katniss and Peeta had told me to do and went over to the knot-tying booth first. The man smiled kindly at me and I gave him a nod in return. It turns out, knot-tying was a lot harder than you would think. I managed to make a very basic snare and a bit more complicated traps before I thanked the man and moved on.

Moving on to camouflage, I found that I could paint my skin any color I wanted and no one would see me. I painted Mariposa on my skin, flying on her own with a hawk coming after her. The way I had done it, I could make both of their wings look like they were flapping as I ran. The camouflage artist gave me a thumbs-up and a large smile as I left his station.

Suddenly, I heard a _twang_, a _whizz_ and the unmistakable _thunk_ of an arrow being shot, flying through the air and hitting its target. Turning, my eyes grew a little wider to see the girl from District One holding a bow and arrow and hitting the bull's eye of the target. As I watched, she shot three more arrows all together and they each hit a point on the target that was evenly spaced out. I felt my throat go dry because I could do the exact same with knives, but she could do it from afar. I knew it would be an extra treat if I got to rip her apart.

I was itching to go over and test out the knives, but Katniss and Peeta had expressly told me not to show them what my real talents were. So, I moved on to pottery sculpting. The woman at the booth showed me how to make pottery out of dried mud and leaves so that I could carry food off of the fire without burning myself. I was proud of myself for getting the hang of it on the third try.

When I had finished, I realized that it was around lunchtime and carts had been brought in. I guess it was so that we could still train and get refreshed to continue learning skills. I heard laughing and looked over to where the Careers had gathered themselves around the food.

_Why do they always have to move in packs?_ I thought with disinterest.

Then I heard a laugh that nearly melted my bones. It was normal, not overly high like the girls and not too low like the guys. It sounded… musical. I turned to see the boy from District Four talking with the girl from District One and they seemed to be having a very good time. My eyes narrowed as I watched another boy, the one from District Three, walk over and join them.

I could feel the anger boiling in my stomach and fought to keep it at bay. _Why do I care?_ I wondered to myself, beginning to practice stick sharpening for when I had to go fishing. _She's from another District, I shouldn't care what she does, just wonder if I'm the one that's going to kill her._

I took a deep breath and finished sharpening the stick, standing and heading over to the buffet table to get a drink. I was sipping a glass of lemonade when I heard three pairs of feet coming my way and I set the cup down.

"Hey you." I merely ignored them; if they don't give respect, I won't acknowledge them.

"Excuse me, blonde girl?" a second voice, higher than the previous one, asked.

"She's not blonde, she's a redhead." corrected another high voice.

"Oh please, she probably just dyed it that color." the first voice, the masculine one, scoffed.

I slowly turned around and leaned against the table. "I didn't dye it." I said softly, watching the two girls and one boy in front of me. They turned to me with confused expressions for a moment before shaking off the puzzlement and continuing.

"Why didn't you turn around, huh?" the boy demanded. He wasn't much, very ropey with a little muscle. I could easily wrestle him to the ground.

"Because I don't know you, you don't know me, and I couldn't be bothered." The boy's eyes flashed.

"Very confident one, aren't you?" he said snidely.

I smirked down at him. "Confident enough. Not overly so, but just enough to get what I want."

"And what do you want?" The girl who had spoken was a dark brunette with deep brown eyes. I shrugged.

"I want a lot of things, really. It's all in how I get them that marks their value. Right now, I want you to leave me alone."

They all looked at me in shock before glaring at me (That was the boy, not the girls) and turning away. My hunter's ears caught their whispering as they left and I smirked wider to hear the boy say, "She'd make a bad ally anyway. She's too thin, not enough muscle, probably can't even use most of the weapons here. Let's see if we can find anyone else."

I shook my head with a dry chuckle and simply went back to sipping my lemonade, Mariposa fluttering onto my shoulder. "No allies are needed for someone who is born to win." I told her softly, gently stroking her back.

After a few more days of training, I managed to master more skills. I could build a decent snare trap for food, I was incredible at tree climbing (that, I already knew) and forming a roof out of large and small leaves, though not exactly a picnic, was manageable.

When I had made it to one last station (fire-building), it was time to head back to the hotel, get cleaned up and await the time for presenting your talents to the Gamemakers. I smiled as I headed back to the hotel, ready for a nice warm shower and a few exercises to loosen my muscles. My mind was already working toward what would be going down with the Gamemakers, but before I could do anything, I needed to have a tiny chat with Katniss and Peeta over their experience with the people that make the Games so interesting.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

I strode into the training center and assessed the Gamemakers. They were just barely paying attention to me and I nodded. Going over to the weaponry, I stared at the assortment of knives they had. I remembered the story Katniss and Peeta told me of their time in the training arena and I decided to follow their lead. Picking up a sword, I hefted it into my hands and approached the trainer.

The Gamemakers turned their heads as I began parrying with him. He seemed to be going easy on me, so I amped up my techniques. He was having trouble keeping up as I swung and battered at him. Moving low, I feinted to the right and tripped him on his left. He crashed to the ground and was too slow to block my sword from jabbing his throat gently.

When that was finished, I was barely breathing hard, so I took up four or five knives and began throwing them at the targets in quick succession. I hit the bull's eye each time and glanced around at the Gamemakers who were looking at me appreciatively. Now was my chance to show them what I was really capable of. This year, there were about ten or so Gamemakers and I nodded to myself.

Collecting the entire arsenal of knives into my arms, I turned to them as they stared at me curiously. I gave them a wry grin and began throwing the knives in all directions. When I was finished, there wasn't a person in the room that wasn't pinned to a pole or a wall or a chair. They looked at me in fright and I grinned, walking over to the head Gamemaker. Slipping my favorite knife from my boot, I held it aloft, pointed lazily at his throat.

"You will give me the lowest score possible short of zero, will you not?"

"W-what?" his voice was deep, somewhat throaty.

"You will give me a one, won't you?" I growled, the smile never leaving my face.

"W-why would we do that?"

"Because you have not seen the last trick I have up my sleeve and if I release the weapon… you will all be dead within a matter of minutes. Now, you will give me a one so that I don't need to use the weapon, right?"

The Gamemaker's eyes found mine and he knew that I wasn't bluffing. "Fine, we will go along with your plan, but then you will be the first one to die because all of the other tributes will come after you."

"Being the first one to die isn't on my agenda." I told him, slowly easing the knives out of his robe. "But, make no mistake, I do have one. I will take all of your robes so that an Avox can tend to the tears. I myself would do it, but I don't have my favorite needle and I can't sew correctly without it."

When I had finished putting away the knives, I turned to them all and gave them a toothy smile. "Thank you for your consideration, ladies and gentlemen." With that, I strode out of the training center and back to the hotel.

* * *

><p>"How did it go?" Katniss asked as she, Peeta and Trinket looked up from the television set.<p>

"Very well, actually. I think they're considering giving me just the score I need to survive. If you need me, I'll be in my room. I need to shower from all the exertion."

I moved to my room and hopped into the shower, fully clothed. I wanted to just let the water run down, I didn't want to actually shower. Letting my head fall backward, I let the water wash the sweat from my hair and run down my body. While still in the shower, I stripped out of my clothes and tossed them out of the stall. Using some soap that was squirted from a spout in the wall, I lathered myself down and let the water wash away the sweat and dirt. Feeling refreshed when I stepped out, I wrung out my hair and walked back into my room. I didn't bother picking up my clothes, knowing an Avox would do it for me.

I sat on my bed for a moment and smiled, staring out the window at the Captiol. They all looked like colorful ants from so high up. _And I will be the one to squash them all._ I smirked, turning as an Avox girl scurried in. She had flowing red hair and piercing green eyes. I felt a shot of lust go through me when I saw her; I LOVED red hair. But I controlled my sudden urge to jump the girl, letting her do her work as I stood in nothing but a towel, overlooking the streets and smaller buildings below.

When I heard the girl leave, I let the towel fall and walked over to the closet; digging around, I found a pair of loose hiphugging jeans and a fluffy tank top. Grabbing a simple pair of running boots and a black pair of leather gloves, I headed back out to the lounge so that I could watch the presentation of the survival scores. I know this is a bit cliché, but I'm feeling a little lazy, so here's what I saw on the television. Yes, I am going to do twenty-four different people so shut up and listen to me. You have to know how good these people are if you want to be able to beat them after all.

The boy from **_District_** **_One_** had simply worn a blank stare in the picture that was taken as the scarlet number beneath his picture read: Four. I sighed; such a large boy yet very lacking, obviously.

The girl from **_District_** **_One_** had been caught on film with a shy smile adorning her soft pink lips, making her entire face light up and her blue eyes sparkle. I shook my head and just barely caught the number beneath the picture, showing off an impressive eleven. My heart jumped into my throat at that, knowing that she was about as good as I was.

The boy from **_District_** **_Two_** had a fierce stare coming from his black eyes which were partially covered by his equally as black hair. His number underneath read eight; I would have a fun time killing him then.

The girl from **_District_** **_Two_**, sadly, wasn't as highly marked as her male comrade. She had only scored a six and I think they added on a point or two because she was pretty with long blonde hair and arrogant blue eyes.

The boy from **_District_** **_Three_** was massive. I'm not joking, his muscles were as big as both my hands clasped together and probably bigger. He had kind of a malicious smile, but he didn't look too threatening besides his muscles. His red number read: eight. Fair enough, not everyone can be as up to standard as the District One girl and myself.

The girl from **_District_** **_Three_** was very lanky, but she looked a lot like the Latinas that I had read about. Brown hair and brown eyes with tan skin and a heart-shaped face. She must not have been very good at much because she only scored four. Pity. Was there going to be ANY real competition this year other than the two eights and the eleven.

The boy from **_District_** **_Four_** was tall, blonde, muscular and looked extremely overconfident with his chest poking out and his eyes all arrogant and challenging. He must have been good with the sword at his hip because his number was a nine. More competition, finally.

The girl from **_District_** **_Four_** had _way_ too much make-up on to make her look even remotely attractive. I couldn't quite make out the color of her skin, but I think it might have been tannish white at one point. Now it was much too light to really tell. She was twirling a knife in her hands and her number read: Five. I snickered. She would be an easy defeat then. I was going to have fun this year.

The boy from **_District_** **_Five_** was the boy that had confronted me on the first day of training with those other two girls. He looked really ropey and not nearly as muscular as some of the boys from District Five tended to be sometimes. But his number read a bright six underneath so he must have something to him.

The girl from **_District_** **_Five_** had been one of the girls to confront me during the first day of training. She had been with the previous boy and they were both from the same district, which made sense. She was kind of lanky, but had dark brown hair that might fade very well into desert terrain or forestry. She had scored seven with the Gamemakers and it made me oddly proud that she did.

The boy from **_District_** **_Six_** had extremely long limbs for someone who looked to be only fourteen. He was probably really fast and could climb trees in a breeze. Even his face and sandy blonde hair were long, hanging in his sad-looking ice-blue eyes. His number read: Four and I felt sorry for him, that he would be among the first targeted.

The girl from **_District_** **_Six_** looked so much like a fox, I think she actually reminded Katniss of the girl that she had dubbed Foxface. "That's your new Foxface." Katniss chortled, staring at the solid three underneath the girl. "Foxface 2.0." I murmured.

The boy from **_District_** **_Seven_** had been caught holding a small booklet with his black hair falling in his hazel eyes. But the pen in his hands wasn't ordinary. It had a blade coming out of it. He must have been good with it. He got a six.

The girl from **_District_** **_Seven_**, unfortunately, wasn't as well endowed as her fellow tribute. Though she had a knife at her hip and her brown eyes told of an obvious challenge from beneath black curls, she had only gotten a three.

The boy from **_District_** **_Eight_** looked like he might be hard to beat. He looked like a small boulder of muscle. His eyes weren't arrogant or afraid, just calm and he had even given a small smile once or twice because there was one gracing his lips. He had received a five, which was well enough to fair for a few days in the arena.

The girl from **_District_** **_Eight_** was very small. I mean, VERY small. The girl looked like she could be a relative to some mice. Her hair was a mousy brown and her face was somewhat pointed like one. Even her ears were rounded to a point of being near circles. She had received a two and I almost felt sorry for her. Almost.

The boy from **_District_** **_Nine_** looked somewhat muscular. His arms weren't bulging, but they weren't really thin either. If the small knife in his hand was any indication, then he deserves the eight he got.

The girl from **_District_** **_Nine_** was just about as muscular as her male counterpart. She also had a knife in her hand and had gotten the same as he boy. An eight. I raised an eyebrow. "Maybe they're related." I muttered.

The boy from **_District_** **_Ten_** was very boring-looking with simple brown hair and brown eyes and cream skin. He held a spear at his side and the Gamemakers must have thought this a good trait and had given him a five.

The girl from **_District_** **_Ten_** was just as boring looking as her male counterpart. The Gamemakers seemed to think so too because they had only awarded her a two. I raised an eyebrow at this because she had been using the spears pretty well during the public training sessions with the other tributes. Perhaps she hid her true talents from them? I would have done that, but it's not my style.

The boy from **_District_** **_Eleven_** looked very lanky despite how small he looked. He had a very obvious frightened look in his eyes and this intrigued me. He hadn't even tried to hide his fear. He had been given a three so he wasn't a completely lost cause.

The girl from **_District_** **_Eleven_** had pale hair and skin and she was kind of wispy. I instantly became protective of something so small and fragile looking. But I felt another swell of pride at seeing the seven boldly written underneath her name and picture.

Grudge's face looked very stony, so stony that he was almost angry-looking. I patted him on the back with a smile when he received a large ten. This guy must have been really good at something because what I've seen him do isn't much.

And finally, I was presented. I had been caught with one of my signature toothy, cat smiles and my eyes held a very obvious challenge in them. Because I had been wearing a tank top, my muscles were also prominent, along with my very thin waist. Mariposa's wings were raised as she stared at the camera goadingly. I stared in satisfaction as the scarlet number underneath of me read, very clearly and legibly: One.

Katniss groaned and her head sunk to her hands. "Kaos! What did you do in there?"

I shrugged as I continued lounging on the very soft beanbag I had taken to. "I wasn't going to give those Careers a reason to kill me so I did my worst."

"But now that marks you as most likely to die!" Trinket exclaimed, her eyes wide.

I chuckled as I stood and slowly stretched. "Exactly, sweetheart. I'll be in the thick of the action, won't I?"

"But… but are you any good with any weapons?" Peeta asked slowly.

"Well of course I am, Darlin'. I'm very good with multiple different types of weapons."

"Which one are you best at?" Katniss inquired.

I shot her a small smile and pulled out my knives. "These, my dear, are my prides, my joys and my powers." I began spinning one knife as I continued. "Give me a sword, I can do extremely well. Give me a spear, I can do fairly well. Give me a bow and arrows, I'm terrible to tears, but give me a knife…" I tossed the knife up into the air and held all of their gazes as I caught it by the handle on its way down, blade first. Yes, without looking. "...and I'll be your worst nightmare."

I turned to head back to my room. "Those Careers won't know what hit them."

"Dinner is in ten minutes." Trinket called to me timidly; I could tell I had scared her with such a fierce display of power and deadliness, but hey, that's what I was born for. And soon, they would all know it.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

Here are three things that I really don't like. One was having to do things for a very stupid cause. If the reason was rational and/or necessary, then I would most likely do it. Two is that I really don't like being annoyed because it throws things all out of proportion for me. And three is that I don't like going in front of people so that can take me apart with their eyes and try to envision how I was going to die.

So naturally, you can imagine that when I heard about the tribute interviews, I wasn't so happy. I knew that Katniss would be the one coaching me while Peeta coached Grudge. It was rare that we had two victors at the same time, never around the same age. But, I grudgingly got out of bed the morning after the final training session and dressed, leaving my hair wild as I walked out to begin my two-hour session with Katniss.

"Alright, Kaos. You've gotten yourself this far. You were a shining wreck at the Grande Opening, you've completely confused the crowd with the fact that you look so powerful and deadly, yet received the lowest score. But now they want to know more about you, what are you like, you're personality and interests, that sort of thing. So I'm going to ask you some basic questions and you'll answer them how you see fit, alright?" I nodded and put a slight smile on my face. "What's it like for you? Living in the poorest District?"

My eyes narrowed very slightly and I cleared my throat. "Well, it does get a little depressing sometimes, not being able to get something because the family doesn't have enough money, but it's fine by me because I don't ask for much. Just a new set of clothing every three or four years and lessons on how to sow up my clothing whenever I'm playing outside with some of the animals."

Katniss nodded. "Okay, now try acting sexy. What do you do in your spare time?"

I angled my body a different, more provocative way and gave Katniss my best flirty smile, batted my eyelashes and said, "I'm usually out in town, looking for someone to love me."

Katniss had to swallow a moment at my much deeper tone and coughed. "Good. Now aggression. Have you ever been in a fight?"

I sat up ramrod straight, flexed my muscles at my side and put on my scariest face. "Yeah, I have. Everybody constantly wants to pick a fight with the weak blonde. Let any of the other tributes try and I'll rip out their stomachs and force feed it to them."

Katniss paled, but nodded all the same. "Alright let's try mysterious. Show me whatcha got on that. Do you have anyone waiting for you back at home?"

I shot her a raised eyebrow and a small smile. "Well, there might be someone that I like a lot. Someone that makes my heart leap. Someone that's so charming, nice, funny and amazing that I can't wait to be in their arms one day."

Katniss chuckled. "You sound more lovestruck than mysterious. Peeta would be a perfect match to give you that one." I shrugged. "Alright, have at it. Let's see the one that you've displayed nonstop since you were called to the podium. Show me arrogant and cocky."

"I thought you couldn't be cocky without an actual cock to fuel it." I smirked at her as she blushed profusely. "Just go ahead and ask the question, Katniss."

She raised an eyebrow at me in shock. "You said my name." she murmured.

"Well, duh! Why wouldn't I say your name? Did you think I didn't know it?"

"Well, sort of. I mean, you call me and Peeta and Effie by so many different petnames, we thought you were hiding the fact that you didn't know our actual names."

I snorted and looked at the butterfly on my shoulder. "Do you hear that, Mariposa? She thought we didn't know her name. She thinks so little of the Great Kaos."

Katniss rolled her eyes. "Alright here's your question. How confident are you that you'll survive the Games? That you'll live? That you'll win?"

My natural toothy cat smile slid onto my face effortlessly and I narrowed my eyes at Katniss. "I'm one hundred percent confident that every single tribute will be dead before any of them manages to kill _me_ for good. _I'll_ live through the Games, _I'll_ come out the victor and _I_ will be the one sending food home to my District."

Katniss gave me a beaming smile. "Now here's the hardest one, or at least for me. Try acting humble."

The smile fell off my face in a heartbeat and I took a deep breath. "Alright, hit me."

"What do you like most about the Capitol so far, Kaos?"

I gulped and looked down at my hands. "Um, I-I like the view from the roof of the Training Center, I love the variety of meat served here and there's such a large array of weaponry here; it's so fascinating. Much better weapons than we have at home. But it's so big. It kinda makes me feel really small, but I bet you like it, right Katniss Everdeen?"

Katniss gave me a winning smile. "Great job, Kaos. Consider your interview test, passed. You could go up there and be any character you wanted, except mysterious, and blow the audience away."

I gave her a grin and scoffed, "Did you ever doubt me?"

"Yes, actually. I thought the only things you could be were intimidating and cock-arrogant."

I shot her a smile. "Katniss. You should know by now. With the country we live in, there will always be more than meets the eye."

I stood straight and began making my way to my bedroom to get ready. "Come along, Mariposa. It's time to make ourselves presentable for Pinto, Boralia and Conectivo."

"Wait, Kaos?"

"Hm?"

"Why is that butterfly always with you?"

"Mariposa is my Foreverfly. She's with me all the time, wherever I go, whenever I move." Katniss nodded and I went to my room to shower, deciding that the Capitol needed some sort of awakening and, if what I thought might happen tonight DID happen, I would be the one giving it to them.

* * *

><p>"Pinto, I look like some demon child. I like it!"<p>

"Ah, I knew you might. Now, turn slowly for me so I can make sure I got the fiery child part right."

I slowly did a turn, my clawed boots feeling better than any heels he might have put me in. I was in a catsuit of sorts; it clung to my body and was completely black with little swirls of red here and there. The sleeves had the red tips of flames on them and that connected with the clawed gloves he'd told me to put on. The fingers of the gloves were the black and blue of the flame core and then it curled up into yellow and ended at orange. The orange connected with the red on my sleeves to make me look like I was holding flames. It was the same with my boots. I loved the look. Boralia and Conectivo had made my hair into stylish braids that resembled horns coming from the top of my head and then curling down to rest in a 'V' shape below my chin. It was the perfect look. Pinto nodded approvingly and looked me over.

"Alright, Kaos, are you ready for the interviews?" he asked me as he began making sure everything was just right.

"As ready as I need to be." I replied, staying still to let him work.

"Well, just take a deep breath before you go out there and go out with a smile, alright?" Pinto looked into my eyes for a moment and I nodded.

"And don't forget to move slightly so that your flames can get shown off. Now, let's get you up to the stage so you can show the crowd how demonic you really are." I chuckled at that and followed him to the elevator. I entered at the same time, Katniss, Grudge and Peeta did and I nodded to them each with a small smile.

"You look great, Kaos." Peeta told me speculatively.

"Thanks, Peeta." I murmured, ducking my head to fight down the blush creeping to my cheeks.

When the elevator opened not even two minutes later, I saw the tributes all lined up to go onstage. This year, there were five minutes for each interview and the boy tribute went before the girl. I sighed and got into line as the very last tribute to go up. Katniss walked over to me and said, "Peeta and I are going back to the hotel suite to await you. We want to be surprised when we see you tonight. Do good Kaos." She gave me a thumbs-up just before everyone marched onstage. Well, some marched, some shimmied, some thundered, some tiptoed. Seriously, how hard was it to just walk? I simply set myself to my normal gait and was thereby the last to enter and the last to sit down.

First up was the boy from District One, looking very much like a large boulder. He answered the questions as best he could, but the kid wasn't very much. I barely heard him as I craned my neck surreptitiously to look at the girl. She had on a simple blue dress that brought out her eyes and made them seem like they were sparkling. Her hair had been covered in glitter to make it shimmer slightly and I couldn't help my staring until I realized that I shouldn't be staring at her in the first place because she was competition. Shaking my head, I managed to look normal as the buzzer went off. Now, the girl went up, slowly swaying her hips ever so slightly as she did so. Sitting in the large gray chair, everyone saw it suddenly turn to pink and I wondered what had happened.

"It's alright folks." Caesar said to the crowd. "It's a personality chair. To show the personalities of the tributes." Clearing his throat, Caesar began the interview.

"Here she is, folks, the darling girl from District One, Peece Anjoy!" there was applause as I thought on the girl's name. Peece. So beautiful. And it fit her so well, too. Such a wonderful name for a girl who was sent in to kill.

"So sweetheart," Caesar said with a large smile. "How did such a name come about?"

I listened intently to the girl speak. She had a somewhat light fluttery voice that somehow still sounded solid and firm. "My mother didn't believe that it was fair for the other Districts to be so poor while our own District was so rich, so we lived like the people in each District every year. When I was born, it was the year to live like the people in District Twelve and that was the year that two tributes survived instead of just one. They were both from District Twelve and my mother was happy. She thought peace had finally settled over the Capitol; my name is a reminder of that."

I cocked my head. She was as old as I was. I was born the year Peeta and Katniss won. I smiled at this and continued listening to the conversation.

"What's it like being in the Capitol?"

"It's really pretty here and the food is wonderful."

"I bet it is. Now, about that score that the Gamemakers gave you. You must have quite the talent if you were awarded an eleven. What sort of talent do you wield."

"I don't think I'm supposed to tell what went on in the Training Center." Peece said softly, looking down at her hands with a small smile.

"Very true." called one of the Gamemakers. I chuckled and turned my attention back to Peece.

"Ah well, I guess we'll have to wait until we get to the arena to see that folks. So, what's it like living in your family, Peece?"

"Um, it's a bit sad, since I lost my mom, but my dad tries his best to keep up her tradition of living like the other Districts. This year, we were living like District Three. But my brothers get sad every now and then so I have to comfort them."

"That's so sad." Caesar said softly, putting on a sad expression.

"Not really." Peece said with a small smile.

"Well, I'm glad you're sticking it in for your family. Do you have any friends back home waiting to throw you a welcome home party?"

"Well, there is my best friend, Cania, who's waiting for me."

"Really? Is she nice?"

"Well of course she is. I've trained her since she was a pup."

Caesar's face was comical when Peece told him that. I had to hold down my laughter; he thought Cania was an actual person when, in reality, she was a DOG! "Well then, I bet she'll be happy to see you when you get home. Does she bite?"

"Only if you bite her first." Peece chuckled. Caesar laughed uproariously and nodded to Peece.

"So Peece, spill some gossip for us. Do you have someone waiting for you back home? A boyfriend of sorts getting ready to parade your return?"

I sat up a little bit straighter as I listened intently. My hunter's ears were honed completely to Peece's voice. "I do have someone I like… and I find myself liking them more and more whenever I see them. But I could never have them now."

"Oh?" Caesar leaned forward and you could almost feel the crowd lean forward as well. "Why not, sweetie?"

"B-because they're here in the C-Capitol, they're from another D-District… and they're one of the other tr-tributes."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

Everything froze for me. _One of the other tributes from another District. _Those words were stuck in my head and they fogged up my mind for a moment as I floated on a cloud of pure bliss. _She might like me!_

Then the conversation continued and I was brought down from my sudden high as Caesar asked who the other tribute was. The girl simply stared down at her feet and looked up at him through her eyelashes. That would seem fake to me if any other person – – had done it, but it seemed too cute to be fake when she did it. The buzzer beeped the five minute mark and I sighed in relief. The other tributes slowly began moving forward. I would have been happier if they'd just kept the time limit at three minutes like they did for Katniss and Peeta's Games. The interviews seemed to go by more slowly.

Finally, Grudge was up and, as Katniss had said, he was putting on the silent but deadly 'act'. He barely answered any of Caesar's questions in sentences and he seemed to even be vexing the great Caesar Flickerman. After an agonizingly **_loooooong_** five minutes of Grudge answering in nothing but phrases and words, the buzzer sounded and the audience seemed happy to get him off the stage.

At last, I could make my entrance. Brushing any dust or such from my outfit, I walked slowly out to sit in the chair. I crossed my legs and gave Caesar a toothy grin. I heard the crowd oohing and ah-ing at my attire and made sure to move slightly like Pinto had told me to so that the fabric really looked on fire.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Kaos Andyscord. Did I say that right?"

"Actually Caesar, it's An-dis-cord. Kaos Andyscord."

"Well, what a name. How did this come about?"

"I cause chaos wherever I go, whether intentionally or not, it follows me. Sometimes, I cause it when things seem a bit too quiet."

"Really? Wanna give a demonstration?"

"Perhaps when there are thirty seconds left, you can let me know and I'll cause chaos." We both laughed, mine sounding natural though it was forced.

"So, do you have any special talents we should know about? Your score was very low for someone who looks very talented."

I shot a warning glance at the Gamemakers before shaking my head. "No discernible talents for me, Caesar. Just hard-packed muscle and speed is all I have to show off. Hopefully that will get me far enough in the Games, huh? Let the other Tributes kill each other while I kick back in a mud puddle or in a tree, maybe even a pond for a little while. With how many big and small tributes that came this year, I doubt there will be any trouble with them killing each other and then the bigger ones turning on each other as well. It happens all the time, right?"

"Right you are, Kaos. Right you are. You know, you're much more talkative than your fellow tribute. Do you two not get along?"

"Oh no, Grudge is kind of like solid rock; it takes awhile to open him up but once you do, there may be lots of pretty colors inside to show the beauty of what he really is. He's just… naturally quiet. We don't talk much and I think he likes it that way because it gives him time to think."

"Very in-depth. I like that. Do you always analyze everything around you?"

"Is there a reason I shouldn't?" We laughed again. I think I was doing very well to be honest.

"Do you fight any?" Caesar asked.

"Yes, I do. Once a boy tried wrestling with me while I was in the weight room working out after school. It wasn't very pleasant… for him. It was very fun for me. I got to fight the security guards too."

"Ooh, you hear that folks? She's a feisty one. I think the other tributes might want to watch out for incoming Kaos." I grinned cheekily at Caesar as he worked the crowd.

"Ok, so have at it, Kaos. A girl as beautiful as yourself must have someone back home waiting for you. Do you have a potential love interest back home?"

I froze and the smile melted off my face, replaced with a blank stare. "No."

"Oh come now, there must be someone back home waiting for you?"

"No. I would like to get off the subject now."

Caesar nodded as I stroked Mariposa's wings. "What's the deal with that butterfly on your shoulder, Kaos? Is she a friend of yours?"

"Mariposa is my Foreverfly, Caesar. She's the one thing from my District that I'm proud to bring along with me. I received her as a present from some friends that I've been helping out for the past few years."

"Well, she's got a very beautiful name; appropriate considering her very beautiful partner." I ducked my head and pretended to blush to some 'awws' of the crowd.

I looked up as Caesar cleared his throat and checked the timer. "Well, since our time is almost up, how about you give us a display of your chaos-making skills, eh?"

I grinned and stood up. The entire time, during each interview, I had been using 'osmosis' to observe the audience and now I stood and faced the many curious, watching faces.

"That woman there is wishing her husband would go to the restroom like he has been doing every four tributes so that she can make out with the man across the aisle. That man there is wishing his wife were as beautiful as the woman who has been making sexy eyes at him for the past four minutes and the woman next to his wife is depressed because that used to be her ex-girlfriend and desperately hopes that Sexy Eyes doesn't find anyone else.

"The two men in the back secretly want to be home playing football on a game console because they think anyone who is watching this live is a loser with no life back home and should just go to a different district for more excitement in their lives. And this woman in the front here wants me to give her my room number even though I'm likely to die soon." I leaned down, batted my eyelashes and grinned toothily at the platinum blonde beauty with glittery blue skin and hazel eyes. "But she just wants a steamy night with the tribute that seems to be the most likely to die first, isn't that right sweetheart?"

I stood up and turned to Caesar. Holding up three fingers, I counted down and when I put down my last finger, chaos broke out among the people. The woman who had broken up with Sexy Eyes was moving over to the man that Sexy Eyes had been staring at while his wife began smacking him around the head. The two men in back were looking around at all of the people around them nervously as they began closing in.

The woman in front was looking around as many of the people began giving her disgusted looks and saying vicious comments about her. The man whose wife had been making out with the man across the aisle began chastising her and people had to pull him away because he looked like he was ready to use violence.

In short, I expected better from Capitol-dwellers, but got a very exciting picnic instead. I smiled at Caesar just as the buzzer went off. Turning on my heel, I walked back to my seat and nodded to Grudge. He scowled at me, but I simply did a small victory dance at the astonished looks on all the other tributes' faces and sat back to await how they would finish this. It took fifteen minutes to break Sexy Eyes' ex-girlfriend away from the man and his wife, after which his wife dragged him out of the room. Likewise, the two men in the back had made a run for it with numerous people chasing after them. The woman in the front had run out of the room in tears and now some of the people around had guilty expressions adorning their faces. And the man who had been about to beat his wife said something about filing divorce papers and left with his sobbing wife right behind him.

Caesar looked around at the remnants of the crowd and, for once, I think he was speechless. "That was Kaos, Ladies and gentlemen. Kaos Andyscord. What an accurate way to describe what just happened."

I smirked at the remaining members of the crowd and stood with everyone else to sing the anthem. As I said, I didn't know it, so I simply kept my mouth shut the entire time. Finally, we all filed back into the lobby and onto the elevators. The other tributes were looking at me with different eyes now. Before, when they saw that I got a one, they were looking at me with indifference or contempt. Now, they were watching me apprehensively and some even moved away when I got on the car with them. I smiled to myself and waited for the other six tributes to exit before being dropped off at my own floor.

"What happened?" Katniss demanded when I entered.

"Nothing special. You'll see it soon anyway."

She nodded, her eyes narrowed suspiciously. I simply threw her a catty smile and went to my room. Quickly stripping myself of my clothes, I lay on the bed in nothing but my undergarments and thought about the girl from District One.

Who did she like that was from another district? Maybe that boy from District Four? He was blonde, tall, overly muscular and seemed confident that he would win. I was betting that he didn't last the first day. I sighed and dressed in a tank top and some shorts before going out to watch the interviews as well. The boy from District One was nothing special; he had absolutely no personality. I was hoping I wouldn't be the one to kill him for the simple fact that he was much too bland and I would have absolutely no fun.

I paid close attention to the way the girl from District One said that she liked someone from another district. Did she seem ashamed? If so, then it would be because she liked someone from a lesser district. Did she seem resigned? If that, then it would be because she fed into the old cliché and liked someone from a wealthier district. Did she seem mildly surprised with herself? That could indicate that she liked someone from one of the middle districts, one that wasn't as better off as districts one through four, but wasn't as bad off as nine through twelve. I really couldn't tell what emotion she had other than shyness so I dismissed it for now.

The boy from District Two was large, really quiet and exceedingly muscular. I would have fun tearing him to shreds. Him and the girl, who looked much the same as he did, just with long blonde hair to his short brown and striking blue eyes to his deep black. The boy and girl from Districts Three and Four looked much the same as the ones from District Two. The girl from District Five was somewhat ropier than the others, as was the boy, though he seemed much more muscular.

Districts Six through Ten completely slipped by me as I chowed into some very tough and much more interesting meat. To me, they were unimportant anyway because I was simply here to kill them.

The girl from District Eleven, Wheat, seemed to fit well with her name. She looked somewhat light and kind of wispy. She wasn't the Rue of Katniss' Games, but she had light hair and pale skin and she looked almost childlike. The boy looked exactly like her with slightly bigger muscles. I remember Katniss' story of Thrash and sighed for this poor boy who probably wouldn't last as well as that big guy had.

And finally, District Twelve. I watched Grudge's silent but deadly act and nearly laughed when Caesar seemed discouraged by Grudge's 'acting'. At last, I got to see myself on the set. I actually really _did_ like the whole 'demon child' look Pinto had given me. Katniss watched intently as I joked around with Caesar and when I completely refused to give information on love. She gasped when she saw what I did with the crowd and rounded on me.

"Kaos!" she roared.

"That's what I caused and I can do it again." I sing-songed, pouring light gravy on my potatoes.

"How could you do that? The Gamemakers are probably rethinking their thoughts on your score because of that just so you'll get killed."

I raised my narrowed green eyes up to her and snorted. "If they do rethink it, they won't show it to the other tributes."

"How can you be so sure of that?" Katniss snapped. I stood and pulled her closer, almost like a hug.

I chuckled into her ear and whispered, "Persuasion and manipulation by sharp objects."

"Y-you _threatened_ the **Gamemakers**?" She asked shakily. I nodded.

"Wait!" Peeta shouted, finally standing and decided to put in his opinion. "Now they're bound to try and kill you themselves because of that."

I merely shrugged. "I'm here to have fun and die trying to become a murderer. If they kill me for it then… they kill me for it. In the meantime, I have to plot my attack on my first target, that _sweet_ boy from District Four."

"Why him?"

Why? Because he was handsome, because he was confident, because he was sane, because he was freaking MALE, because he was most likely the one that the girl from District One was crushing on and therefore had to be eliminated. "Because he may be my biggest threat for obvious and not-so-obvious reasons."

"Kaos, wait." I slowly turned to them, my green eyes staring at them all.

"You can't just kill them for her, you know that right?" Katniss said softly. I smiled; they had finally caught on.

"And why not?"

"Because sooner or later, you'll have to kill Grudge here if someone else doesn't. And even sooner than that, you'll have to kill her."

"When the time comes for me to kill her, when we're the only two left… I will give completely over to my instinct and return to the forest, my home. She may live, I shall no longer be a part of the country." They exchanged puzzled glances as I walked back over and placed a kiss to each of their cheeks.

"And I promise you, I will NOT be the one to kill Grudge. I will protect him as best I can, but I simply refuse to kill him and he will never be able to kill me."

With that, I left for my room, plotting against every male that wasn't on my team. They all had to go; the girl, Peece as I had found out from the interviews, would hate me forever, but I don't like competition. And if I played my cards right, she was going to be my greatest prize.

My eyes widen as I realize something. After tonight, there will be no real reason for me to see Katniss or Peeta ever again. Moving out of my bedroom, I found Katniss heading to Peeta's room with him. I react instinctively when I bound over to them and place a soft kiss to first Katniss' lips and then Peeta's.

"Thank you," I murmured slowly. "Both of you. I would have probably screwed up everything if you two hadn't gotten me this far."

As I was walking away, I heard Peeta mutter, "Wow, very big change in character."

"Maybe she's bipolar?" Katniss suggested.

"If she is, it will serve her a whole bunch in that hellhole of an arena."

I smiled and slipped into my room, laying on the bed completely undone to make me feel freer. This was my last night to be free for awhile so I was going to enjoy it.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

At dawn, it's not Katniss that comes to wake me for the Games, but Pinto. He gives me a simple partially see through shift to wear, but I refuse it and instead put on a tank top and some shorts.

"If there's trouble, I'd rather be ready for it. And no pockets to conceal the knives, which I AM bringing with me."

Pinto didn't make any objection to me bringing along my favorite knife and still no one knew about the knife around my neck, disguised as a pendant. Pinto led me to the roof where a hovercraft is waiting. Grudge is already on the bottom rungs so I took a step back and jumped over him. A current tried to glue me to the ladder, but I fought against it with all of my strength and began climbing. Pinto gasped, as did Grudge, because no one is usually able to go against the glue-like current. I made it safely into the hovercraft where I stand by as Grudge is lifted inside. While he's still glued to the ladder, a doctor came over to me with a very small yet deadly-looking needle.

"This is just your tracker Kaos…"

I missed the rest of what she said. The needle was making me dizzy. I've never been one for needles. I could take bites from animals and raging fevers and such like that, but I couldn't do needles. I backed into a wall and stood trembling as the woman came closer. My breath was hectic and I knew that I would pass out from lack of breath in a moment. The closer the woman got with the needle, the more I felt like my throat was constricting. Finally, my eyes rolled and I just sank to the ground. Waking probably moments or even seconds later, the woman is nowhere in sight, but Pinto was gazing down at me merrily.

"The great Kaos can't stand a needle? How will you fare if a knife stabs you in the arm?"

"I've actually felt that before. I just… I don't know what a needle could contain. It could contain poison or be housing some ferocious virus ready to tear my cells apart one at a time or all together. It's very disturbing thinking about them and I KNOW disturbing."

"Well, come on, let's go get you some breakfast so you can have strength for the arena."

I followed him off to a room where breakfast was set up. Eating only enough to get the full feeling in my stomach, I sat and watched the birds fly past. I wanted nothing more than to watch where they land so that I can pull a knife and take them with me for lunch. I was focusing so hard on the sky and the birds that it actually startled me when the windows went black. We must have been getting close. I stood and began pacing as I waited for the ladder to come to let us down into the arena.

Finally, we were allowed to be taken onto the ladder. It lowered us into a black tube and I got a sneaky idea. Using as much of my strength as was needed, I detached myself from the ladder and began freefalling down the tube. I let out a whoop of exhilaration as I felt the wind making my hair fly above my head and my arms in the air.

"Kaos!" Pinto shouted in horror.

The ladder was rapidly descending, but even that couldn't defy gravity fast enough to catch me. I laughed loudly as I finally flew out of the tube. Grudge and Pinto not far behind me. I landed on my feet easily and rolled to the side so that Grudge and Pinto could land.

"H-how are you still alive?" Pinto stuttered, looking at me with wide eyes. "That fall should have broken your legs and you should have fallen, thereby smashing your head on the ground…"

I simply smiled cattishly at him and turned. "Let's get going Pinto. I can't wait to get out there and show everyone that ywaur view of me just might be _veeeerrrrryyyy_ close to the real thing."

Pinto glanced at Grudge and followed me as someone else took Grudge to a separate changing room. I looked around the neatly furnished room and noted everything in it. A small couch for waiting, a small table of snacks that we might want to take into the arena, a bathroom for those that get nervous before big events. None of which I would need. From the smell permeating the tube, I knew exactly where I was and that only served to heighten my sense of superiority.

Turning to Pinto, I saw him holding a package with clothing inside. Each tribute got the same thing to wear and I was desperately hoping that it was something I could at least run in. Opening the package, I found a long-sleeved white turtleneck with normal black pants and a light, gray jacket. They had thoughtfully given us all dark brown, somewhat leathery hiking boots and a thicker wool jacket to put on in case of chilly nights.

Getting dressed quickly, I looked around for Mariposa and found her settled on a donut on the snack table. I chuckled; I guess that even though I didn't need anything to eat, she still needed to keep her strength up.

"Come on, you. We need to get you ready too." I took a very small corner of a napkin and began wiping her body down, being as gentle as possible so that I didn't hurt her. "There you go, Mariposa. Nice, clean and ready to take on all those big, nasty Careers up there. Ready to go?"

_Ready when you are, Kaos._

I grinned and stroked her wings as I turned back to Pinto. He was surveying me steadily and, suddenly, he surged forward and enveloped me in a warm hug. He was about a head and a half shorter than I was, but it was a warm hug nonetheless.

"You'll do wonderful out there, Kaos. You have the willpower, the deadliness, the cockiness, the brains and the brawn. You'll win; I just know it. Just keep your eye on the prize, alright?"

_Oh Pinto._ I thought. _If only you knew that I was shooting for a much bigger prize than just winning the Games. I needed to win a heart in the process… or kill trying._

I gave him a soft squeeze and he let go. "Let's get you to the launch pads."

I followed Pinto out to the launch pads and leaned down to give him a small kiss on the cheek goodbye. "Thank you so much for all your help, Pinto. The rest is up to me now."

He waved goodbye as I was slowly raised into the arena; my new home for the next undeterminable amount of time.

* * *

><p>I stared at the Cornucopia speculatively. <em>So many sharp objects, so little time to choose which one I want to use first.<em>

I glanced around at my other tributes and saw exactly who I would kill after I got rid of Bull, the boy from District Four. I was going to go after the boy from District Three, ah Gato. I found it hilarious that his parents had named him 'Cat' of all things because he looked nothing like one. More like a very large moose. He was staring at Peece with a decidedly hungry look in his eyes. I didn't know if it was bloodlust or regular lust, but either way he was going to die for such a look.

I had taken all of this in within forty seconds and now I focused my attention on the Cornucopia again. Even though Katniss had told me to stay away from it… I had found a very enticing set of knives that came with a sword. And right next to it was a small backpack holding what looked to be food. If it wasn't food then that was no matter; I could still find food in the jungle behind us, but still.

Mariposa fluttered her wings on my shoulder and I smiled, knowing I had backup as the whistle blew. I surged forward and was the first one to the Cornucopia; grabbing the knives and sword, I quickly deflected a spear thrown haphazardly at me and smiled at the boy who'd thrown it. I was just reaching for the backpack when a smaller boy grabbed it. I sighed as I realized that Bull would have to wait just a _little_ longer as I took care of this pest.

Swiftly slicing the boy's head off, I grabbed the backpack and turned to the fighting Careers. I decided that this was a good time to focus on the talents that they displayed. Both children from District Ten were amazing with spears and simple rods of wood; they might actually be a challenge because of it. The girl from District Four, um, Shiner, she and the girl from District Two, Shimmer, were both highly skilled with knives, but not nearly as good as me; Shimmer missed a boy that was two feet away so she's no good at throwing. Shiner preferred taking her specimens apart, bit-by-bit. I would have extra fun with her.

Suddenly, a shadow fell over me and I looked up nonchalantly to see the girl from District Seven, Implicit, bearing down on me with a jagged knife with a delicious-looking serrated edge. Quickly grabbing a weapon from my own arsenal, I clashed my knife with hers and smiled at her surprised look just before I grabbed another and sliced her throat open. Tucking the three knives into the backpack, I glanced around and spotted Bull in the thickest bit of fighting.

Most of the other tributes had gotten most of what they needed and were heading either into the wood or down the hill into the field below. I slowly made my way toward Bull, knowing from all of the bodies lying around that just about none of the other Careers were dead. They were most likely covering his six and I needed to be on guard.

Coming up behind him, I tapped Bull on the shoulder and smiled as he looked down at me in shock. He grinned maliciously at me and raised his sword, but I raised mine as well and they met with a sharp _clang_. Parrying back and forth for awhile, I grew bored of the fight; he wasn't as skilled as I had hoped and it was getting tiring just trading blows with him. I went down low and kicked his feet out from under him, making him fall backwards. As he lay whimpering on the ground, I raised my sword high and stabbed downward, ending his heart. After that, I sliced his neck, ending his brain.

"No!" I glanced up to find Peece racing toward me with a loaded bow. "Bull!"

She quickly took aim and I had to maneuver rapidly in order to avoid an arrow to the heart. I looked at her fearfully and jumped to my feet, bounding away until I was safely in the woods. Gazing back through the foliage, I saw Peece shedding tears over Bull's body and felt my heart sink. I let my shoulders slump, knowing that this would set the Capitol off wondering why I cared. Then, I straightened my back and headed into the woods, away from the Careers and their pack.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

Moving through the cover of the trees was a breeze for me. I wanted to try climbing one of them to test out their strength, but I knew that I had to get away from the Cornucopia because the Careers might try searching the woods surrounding it, just in case. I had no doubt in my head that Peece would instantly become part of the Careers and I tried ticking off who would be Careers in my head. Peece, Shimmer, Shiner, Gato, that boy from District Two named Shake, the boy from District One called Pine, The boy from District Eight (Magedeleno I think) and **maybe** the boy from District Nine named after the Acanthus plant.

I shook my head at some of the names people came up with before realizing that my own name meant sadness, destruction, war, helplessness, disorder, discontent, anger and a whole lot of other things. I simply hitched the pack higher on my back and continued.

I stopped about an hour later to check and see what was in my pack. I found food, at least, but it was only dried berries and a bottle of water. I rolled my eyes and looked through the rest of the content. A hoodie for just in case I lost my jacket, an umbrella for the rain, a flashlight, a box of matches, some bandages, a bottle of antibiotic, a woolen blanket, lots and lots of string, a large empty jug and a pair of nightvision goggles, which were not needed. The day had just begun but it was pretty warm out so I tied my thinner jacket around my waist and stuffed my thicker jacket into the backpack.

I continued walking and wondered what the people at the Capitol were thinking of me now. I chuckled as I thought of their remarks. "I can hear them now, Mariposa. 'So, it turns out the 'demon child' really DID have something up her sleeve after all. How ever did she convince the Gamemakers that she was so helpless? Did she not do anything special in front of them? Did she accidentally mess-up too many times? Did she blackmail them?' Capitol-dwellers are so very predictable if you've been watching them closely for years on end."

Mariposa fluttered beside me as though she were laughing. I continued on my way until I was far enough away that I was sure the Careers wouldn't still be looking for me. I stood very still and listened to the woods around me. My trained ears picked up on more than just bird's wings. I heard little feet hopping here and there. There must have been rabbits and other game here, which ultimately meant larger predators than just humans. I heard the sound of rushing water nearby and grinned to myself.

"Come on, Mariposa; let's get some water. I'll put yours on a leaf so that you don't get swept away in the current."

I bounded off in the direction of the river and smiled as I peered through the underbrush. It didn't look like anyone was around, so I decided to climb a tree and take a look around for anyone nearby. Slinging my pack over both my shoulders, I grabbed onto a tree with my nails, stood on a bush and hoisted myself up to the lowest branches. Grabbing hold of them, I tested their sturdiness and slowly began climbing. I began feeling better the higher I climbed until I could see for quite awhile out. The beautiful was gorgeous at this view. The trees, the wildlife, even the river below me shone with beauty. I smiled and looked around for anyone who could be coming to test their luck at killing me.

No one seemed to be in the immediate vicinity of thirty yards, so I climbed back down, took a leaf and scooped up some water, laying it on the ground for Mariposa. Then, I scooped the water into my hands and began drinking. I would save what was in my pack for later. Then I remembered a large empty jug at the bottom of the pack. Quickly pulling it out, I filled it nearly to the brim with water and replaced it carefully into my pack. It would make my load a little heavier, but the heavier a bag is, the harder you can hit someone with it. I began making my way back toward the Cornucopia because I wanted to see if the Career tributes had looted it comepletely and then set up camp there or looted some of it and set up camp a little ways away.

Suddenly, I got tingles down my back and knew that I was being watched. I looked up to find little Twine staring down at me curiously. I smiled up at her, waved and kept moving. I heard a rustle and knew that she was following me. As long as she wasn't loud, it wasn't a bother. Creeping back to the Cornucopia, I found that there was no one in sight. I decided to try climbing a tree instead so that I could get some leverage. Nimbly climbing the tree nearest me, I scoped out the land and the only eyes I found were Twine's. I nodded to her and jumped down as I watched for traps just in case. Sneaking back to the Cornucopia, I decided to take only what was needed. I grabbed the few remaining knives and some Japanese throwing stars. "I didn't even know they still made these." I murmured as I put them in my pack.

Digging around for a bit, I finally found some food to go by. Five apples, a packet of turkey, a small bag of carrots and a jar of honey. Stealing back into the cover of the trees, I glanced back at the Cornucopia before waving it goodbye for awhile. "Come on Mariposa, let's see if we can find a nice place to sleep."

I heard her footsteps before she spoke. "You can make camp with us." I turned to see Twine staring up at me curiously.

I chuckled. "No thank you, Twine. I would rather not get you, little Wheat and… what's-his-name killed. I tend to attract trouble and I don't need anyone getting killed if I can prevent it a little longer. But here. Take this back to Wheat and what's-his-name." I tossed her three apples and the carrots. "I know it isn't much, but you three need to keep you strength up. Something tells me it's going to be a very fascinating Games this year."

Twine nodded and scurried off into the trees. I hadn't even gone two more steps before she was back, giving me a hug. "Thank you, Kaos."

"Don't thank me, Twine. Bad things usually happen to people who tell me that. Now go before the other two wonder where you are." I place a kiss to the top of her head before she hurried back out. I began walking again and Mariposa landed on my shoulder.

_That was nice of you, Kaos. Feeling festive?_

I shrugged. "Not festive, just… nice. I like her; she's a sweet one, her and Wheat. That other boy, though, rubs me the wrong way. I don't trust him and I don't think they should either."

_Ok then. Let's see if we can find someplace to sleep before dusk._

I continued through the trees for a couple more hours, but when it became clear that I wasn't going to find a useful place to sleep, I grew fed up and climbed into a tree to think. The sun began to set as I thought of everything Katniss and Peeta had told me over what they had done. Peeta had buried himself in mud for days on end, which I knew I could never pull off with how much I need to be accredited as a killer in this, or at least, as much of a killer as possible. The Careers were never going to let me into their group; it had been obvious that Bull had been the leader of that group and usually, hyenas didn't take too kindly to you killing their leader, so I knew they weren't going to accept me in. Plus, I got a one, which automatically makes you think that I'm too weak to do much more than fight, dodge and run.

So I thought more on Katniss. She told me that she had kept constantly on the move, not wanting to stay in one place too long. She had dropped a nest of tracker-jackets on the Careers, but no way was I going looking for a nest of those; that was suicide. Then it hit me; Katniss slept in trees! She had slept in a tree when she found out that Peeta had joined the Careers, she had slept in a tree in order to avoid the Careers, she had even slept in trees to keep a lookout for Peeta when the Capitol called for a new law. I wasn't entirely sure if that law was still in practice now, but it had saved them both, so it might be.

I began maneuvering on the branch I was on so that I could look around and see if there were any branches sturdier than this one. I saw one a bit higher up and climbed up to it, setting my pack near the trunk so it wouldn't fall. I looked at it for a moment and took out my woolen blanket so that I could cover up for the night. Mariposa fluttered next to me and after a moment of thought, I opened the blanket and let her in. Mariposa crawled under the blanket and curled herself into my body. I didn't want to eat anything tonight, but I knew I had to keep my strength up, so I ate some of the dried berries and took a swig of my water bottle.

Finally, when the sun had almost fully set, the cannons began firing. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. I watched the faces flash through the sky. Odd, it seemed like more had died. Or at least that more would have died. Usually first days are much more bloody than this, but only eight died today. Bull, Implicit, Foxface 2.0 (pity she couldn't be like her predecessor), both from District Ten (I wonder how they died. Must have been stabbed in the back), both from District Nine (Pity I really thought Acanthus might have had a chance), and the boy from District Eight (Well that counts him out of being with the Careers). Eight tributes down, sixteen of us left. This was going to be a very interesting Games.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

I woke up to the dawn greeting me. I slowly sat up, so as not to squash Mariposa, and I stretched my limbs a bit. Looking around, I smiled and glanced around to survey the area, making sure there was no immediate danger within fifty feet of me. Standing up on my branch, I stuffed my blanket back into my pack, ate more dried berries, took another drink of the water bottle and hopped down. Mariposa fluttered after me a moment later and I grinned at her.

"Ready to start a new day in the arena?"

_Ready to kill some Careers, you mean?_

"Yep."

_Of course._

I smiled and slung my pack over my shoulder, beginning my trek through the forest. There was a decided lack of human activity around me and this soothed me, knowing that I wasn't being followed or hunted at this very moment. I decided that I was going to stay in one general area of the forest. Taking off one of my boots, I used my pocketknife to carve a large 'K' into the bottom. After doing the same with the other boot, I tested out the carving and was rewarded with a 'K' shaped indent in the ground.

"Now I can follow my own tracks," I said to Mariposa as I started walking again. "Unless of course it rains." Mariposa fluttered in laughter.

"Now, since I'm staying in about the same place, why not mark my territory?"

Keeping my knife in hand, I marked a 'K' on every tree I passed. If the Careers saw them, then they'd know that they were in death terrain. The Gamemakers, of course, would think I was asking for trouble… well, I am. I walked in a very wide circle and marked my territory fairly well, a 'K' on both sides of every tree and the tree with the biggest 'K' was my tree. I would move from tree to tree every night so as not to get caught, but that was my specific tree where I would check for trouble. I smiled at my cunning and bravery for a split second before sitting underneath a large bush. Mariposa walked on a branch near me and settled down as well.

"I think that's good, don't you?" She walked onto my hand and looked up at me.

_Aren't you afraid the Careers would find you?_

"Not at all, my sweet Foreverfly. On the contrary, I **_want_** them to find me. That way, I won't have to find them and it makes me killing them much easier."

Mariposa nodded and settled on my arm as I thought about what I should do. I had two apples, a pack of turkey and a jar of honey. The main thing I knew I needed was meat. There was no way I was going to survive without it. So, I slowly stood from underneath the bush and took out my overabundance of string and began setting up some traps in the trees. This way, it can catch any game that ran through.

_Heaven forbid you step on them yourself._ Mariposa said, to which I chuckled.

"I won't step on one of my own traps, Mariposa, perhaps someone else's but never my own."

She flapped her wings as if to shrug. _If you're sure, Kaos._ I smiled and stroked her back, checking each of my traps to make sure they were lightly covered so that the game wouldn't catch them, but they weren't too heavily covered that they wouldn't catch anything.

"Let's go hunting, Mariposa." I began scoping out the boundaries of my territory, looking for any game within its boundaries. If there weren't any then I would venture out, but I was in luck. I saw a rabbit just a little ways away and licked my lips, my finger itching to get at it. Pulling my knife from my boot, I bit my tongue to concentrate and threw the knife at the rabbit, nailing it right in the side of the head like always. Smiling, I picked up the rodent and put it into my pack, before continuing my hunting mission.

All of a sudden, I heard quick footsteps from two people. Wait no. I listened closer. Three people, one further ahead than the other two. One light, the other graceful, the third thundering. The thundering footsteps were the ones in the front. I heard a sudden yell for help and turned to see the boy from District Seven running toward me.

I stepped into the shadows, hoping he hadn't seen me. My lucky day, he hadn't seen me. Deciding that if this is what came to me when I stayed in one spot, I might as well take the chance to test my skills. Sticking out my foot, I tripped him and was about to stab him when I heard the other two pairs of footsteps coming closer. Keeping to the shadows, I saw Shimmer and Shiner coming toward us with a length of string in each of their hands. Shimmer grinned down at the fallen boy and pulled his hands behind his back.

"You're in for a big treat today, Richie." She snickered maliciously, tying his arms behind his back.

"No! Please! I'll do anything!"

"Too late, Richard." Shiner murmured, pulling out a knife.

I knew what was about to happen and my stomach turned. Shiner was going to torture this boy until the bloodloss and pain killed him. What made me sick was that I was fascinated to see how she would do it. I stayed in the shadows, not wanting them to see me until they were finished. As I watched, Shiner slowly cut away little strips of skin from the arms and legs before cutting the fingers and toes of completely. When she had caused enough pain to the arms and legs, she shredded into the stomach and chest, going higher briefly to slice into the cheek or the mouth before continuing with larger expanses of skin. I had to give it to Richard; he managed to last all the way until she nearly finished ribboning his stomach. Then he passed out from bloodless and Shiner whooped in victory.

The entire time, Shimmer had been standing by with a look of amusement on her face and now she stepped forward with a chuckle. "Did you have fun, Shiner?"

"Yeah!" Shiner said excitedly. "I don't think anyone's lasted so long."

"Wonder if the Great Kaos could last as long." Shimmer mused.

At this, I let my arrogance fuel my actions for a moment and stepped out of the bushes. "Wanna find out?" They both jumped and turned to me angrily.

"How long have you been there?" Shimmer demanded.

"Long enough." I shrugged, easily sidestepping a knife thrown at my stomach. "So, wanna take me up on that offer?" I asked with a devious smile.

"Sure, why not?' Shiner said in excitement. The girl was only thirteen and she was already a sadistic chick. I'll put a stop to that.

"One catch." I said, sidestepping yet another knife, aimed for my heart. "Fistfight."

Shimmer glanced at Shiner and herself, then back at me and grinned triumphantly. "You're on." She said, dropping her knives.

"Hand them here." I told her. "If I lose, you two will get the pack. If I win, I get the pack and the knives. Deal?"

They both nodded and put their knives in my pack. I put mine in as well, being careful to keep on the one around my neck before tossing my pack into the bushes where Mariposa landed on top of it. She didn't look the least bit worried and that made me proud and honored that she had such confidence in me. I turned back to my two adversaries and smiled.

"On the count of three." I prayed that my instinct would kick in as soon as they began. "One, two, three!"

Shimmer jumped forward, so confident that she could take me on her own. I threw a simple punch with a lot of force behind it and knocked her backward. Shiner jumped up and tried to kick my feet out from under me, but I jumped and kicked her in the stomach. As Shiner stumbled back, Shimmer came forward and tried to throw a blow at my chest. I smirked and sidestepped her, sticking my foot up to catch her in the chin.

"What's the deal with you and hitting me in my face?" Shimmer demanded, as I blocked hits and jabs from Shiner. "Jealous of my beauty?"

"As if," I replied, flipping Shiner over my back and ramming her into a tree. "I have three different natural hair colors, flawless skin, piercing green eyes and a shapely, muscular figure. You have one natural hair color that marks you as stupid, skin that has been scarred by the wildlife around you, icy blue eyes and a curvy but somewhat flabby form. I'd much rather be the hunter I am than the slut you are."

Just as I threw Shiner into another tree, Shimmer's anger took over and she threw blow after blow, trying to catch me offguard. I blocked efficiently, not letting her get a hit in because I knew what that would mean for me. Just then, I heard the rustling of fabric and knew that Shiner had grabbed a knife to try and throw me offguard. I was correct because a moment later, I saw a flash of silver. Moving swiftly to the side, I let the majority of the thrust get Shimmer, while I miscalculated and the rest slit my turtleneck sleeve and grazed my arm.

Sighing, I turned and kicked Shiner in the jaw before taking my anger out on her face, chest and stomach. My fists were flying as fast as they've ever gone and Shiner was screaming out to Shimmer for help. I saw another flash of silver and knew that Shimmer knew that she wasn't going to win against me without playing dirty. I moved aside, this time calculating correctly, and Shimmer nearly stabbed Shiner. I saw that they had used the same knife to try and stab me, so I took up my pack and gave them a cheery wave before bounding into the brush and quickly climbing a tree.

I watched from afar as Shimmer helped Shiner to her feet and murmured, "Let's get you back to camp so that you can get those bruises checked out by Peece."

My ears perked up at the name and I was compelled to follow them. Following them by tree, I had to hide every so often because Shimmer wanted to make sure I wasn't following them to finish them off. She led me to a campsite that had obviously just been set up.

"Gato! Peece!" Shimmer shouted, supporting Shiner with both arms now. The younger girl was nearly unconscious from the pain I had inflicted with my fists, boots and nails. I smiled in appreciation for myself before returning my attention to the Career tributes below.

"What happened?" Gato demanded, wanting to know why Shiner was so beat up.

"Kaos happened." Shimmer replied, handing Shiner off to Peece.

"She beat up Shiner?" Gato gasped, aghast.

"She challenged us both and we thought we could take her. She's strong, Gato. Strong and skilled. She wasn't joking when she said she could fight. I barely got away with Shiner in time." Shimmer hugged Gato and he held her to him.

"Don't worry Shimmer," the hulking boy cooed softly. "We'll get her back."

Shimmer smiled and hugged Gato a little tighter. I let a guffaw escape my lips and inwardly groaned at my momentary lack of control. Gato looked up and I gave him a sly smile and a wave. Gato snarled and unsheathed his sword, making for the tree. I climbed up a little higher, knowing that Gato wouldn't last two seconds on any of the branches around me. He began climbing and I smirked at an almost inaudible cracking I heard.

"Are you sure you can come any higher, Gato?" I asked, goading him. "Big Bad Gato unable to catch Poor Helpless Kaos. That would be _so_ tragic for your reputation when you win. Everyone will be asking, 'What about the girl that got away, Gato? Did it humiliate you to know that you couldn't catch her?'"

Gato's face was turning red with anger and embarrassment as he realized that he really _couldn't_ catch me in a tree. "Yeah, well, how about a fight on the ground where everyone has equal footing?"

I smiled and laughed, pulling my own sword. "Are you sure, Kitty? We don't want you getting destroyed."

"Be careful, Gato." Shimmer called. "We don't know the extent of her knowledge. She could be dangerous with that."

Gato was trying to determine his chances of winning and he seemed to think they were pretty high because of his bulk and height over me. Actually, now I think about it, I don't think I've ever stood next to Gato. If I did, I wonder how tall I would be to him.

"So are we gonna do this?" I asked softly, wanting to get this show on the road. This was probably good for the Gamemakers, the tribute with the lowest score challenging each of the Careers and showing off her talent. Gato nodded and slowly climbed down to the ground. I shook my head with a soft chuckle and jumped lithely from my height, landing neatly on my feet before Gato, smiling at his dumbfounded look.

"I'll make it more interesting for you." I proposed. "Shimmer, go bring a large hunk of meat please."

She hurried away, too afraid at the moment to object. She came back a moment later with a hunk of ham. I put it into my pack and tossed it up to one of the lower branches that I knew Gato could reach.

"Winner get's that, while loser is either dying… or dead."

Gato nodded with a large smirk on his face. I flashed my sword for a moment before saying, "You count down to three since I counted down to three with Shiner and Shimmer."

Gato nodded and counted down. "Three, two, one!"

I waited as he rushed me and wondered vaguely why all of the Careers rushed their opponents. My sword easily clashed with Gato's and I began parrying with him, cat playing with the mouse. He thought he had the upper hand obviously, but we were the same height even though his width was about twice mine. However, my strength was more than a match for his and we continued trading blows without landing a hit on each other. I was getting very tired of this, really I was. But there was no way I was going to make this quick for Gato. I couldn't do that for him.

I took a quick survey of the area and noticed that Pine, Shake and Peece had all gathered around to watch the fight. I saw Shake getting a spear ready, just in case I succeeded in killing or injuring Gato; Pine had a knife at the ready as well. Peece was the only one not to draw a weapon and this confused me. Perhaps she was falling for Gato? Was she really so confident in him that she was sure he would win? This in itself, this lack of response from Peece, made me angry and territorial. She would be mine and no _way_ was Gato going to stand in the way of that. I refused to let it happen.

Doubling my attacks, I saw Gato's eyes widen in shock that I hadn't worn down yet and I grinned ferally at him. Growling, I began moving my sword expertly, finding plaintive holes in Gato's techniques. Stabbing through most of them, I smiled to see Gato wearing down with the amount of gashes I had inflicted. He was backing away in fear, trying to decide whether he wants to look weak and run or look stupid and continue fighting. I figured goading him would be good enough for me to lure him into his own death trap, but before I could, I heard a _whoosh_. Stepping to the side easily, I watched the spear fly past me and nearly catch Gato too. I laughed triumphantly and went down low to kick out his feet. Gato fell backward and slammed his head into the tree. As he slid down, I pointed my sword at his throat and smirked.

"Give?" I inquired.

Gato stared up at me sourly before looking at his fellow Careers. "No. Get her!"

I sighed as everything moved slowly for me. Swirling my sword, I know I gave someone quite a gash in their body. I don't know where, but I also didn't wait around to find out. Kicking out and punching in, I managed to subdue all of the Careers after me for a moment. Using Gato's head as a stepping-stone, I climbed the tree, grabbed my pack and settled onto one of the higher branches.

"Well, I can't say it hasn't been fun because that was great. Nice exercise, really funny fights, very interesting moves. You all will be interesting to take on indeed. Just remember to be careful if you stray into my territory. And trust me, you'll know when it's MY territory."

With that, I swung to the next tree, just as a spear pierced the space where I had just been. "Too slow." I sang, continuing to the next tree.

"Peece!" Gato roared. I turned to see him approaching her. "Why didn't you join in the fight? You could have speared her with an arrow within seconds."

"Because I have to take care of Shiner. I couldn't do that if I jumped Kaos. Now come on, I need to put ointment on those cuts."

Gato huffed and followed her back to camp. I looked on curiously and decided to follow them to where Shiner was lying motionless on a sleeping bag. "Sit." Peece murmured, going into the tent near them and coming out again with some ointment and a washcloth. "Hold still." She told Gato softly, beginning to clean his wounds.

"I'm trying to figure out how she got through my defenses." Gato muttered, sulking and looking very close to pouting. "No one's ever gotten through my defenses except Bull."

"She killed Bull." Peece said distantly, applying white cream to the cuts.

"Did she really?" Gato asked in surprise. "Then she might actually be a real threat. How good do you think she is with a spear?"

Peece tasted her words for a moment before replying. "For your sake? I'd hope she wasn't very good." I resisted a chuckle.

When Gato was finished, he stood and stretched, testing the wounds. "Pack up your things. We're moving camp." He said. "Kaos knows where we are, which means she could attack at any moment. We head out tomorrow at dawn." When Gato walked away, Shimmer came and took a seat in front of her.

"Peece?" the brunette looked up. "Am I stupid?" My eyes widened in utter shock. I had actually made Shimmer doubt herself? _Congratulations Kaos!_ I told myself, pumping a fist into the air.

"Shimmer, why would you think that?"

"Well, when I was fighting Kaos, she said some things that were… nasty."

"What did she say?" Peece asked gently, trying not to make Shimmer cry.

"She said that I had a hair color that marked me as stupid, ugly scars from the forestry, unappealing eyes and that I was fat. She didn't say it in those exact words, but from what she did say, that was the basis of it."

"Shimmer, you're not any of those things," Peece told her softly. "You're attractive, clever, easygoing and you always know how to take care of Shiner. You're great with kids and you don't mind being a part of the group. Don't listen to Kaos, alright? You're beautiful just how you are."

Shimmer smiled and nodded, moving back to her tent and looking genuinely happy. It was nearing dusk and I knew that Peece would be going to sleep soon. Swinging over to the tree closest her tent, I used some leftover string to hang myself upside down in front of the entrance. When Peece turned from Shiner's still motionless body, she caught sight of me and had to stifle a gasp. I cocked my head and smiled.

"You're a new one." I murmured, deciding to play a 'crazy' role. "You don't want them to find out I'm here, but you seem to hate me as much as them."

"I don't hate you." Peece muttered, staring at me.

"Really?" I raised an eyebrow. "No contempt or disinterest? No self-righteous 'I'll get you back for hurting my friends' type of thing?"

"Well I-." Peece stopped. "How did you do this to Shiner?"

"She cut me and I went berserk. I kinda freaked out." This was bizarre to me. Here I was in the enemies' territory, talking with one of the enemies. And she didn't seem at all fazed about it.

"Why are you here?" Peece inquired.

I shrugged, playing off my momentary off balance of the question. "I just wanted to see the tribute that has just about all of Panem entranced. I mean, it was one thing for Peeta and Katniss because they're from the **same** District, but to have fallen for someone of a _different_ District when you're both tributes is something the Capitol has never seen before. It's kind of capturing, if you know what I mean."

Peece shrugged. "The person I fell for doesn't love me back and probably wants to kill me anyway. So really, I'm trying to see them as much as possible before the day they kill me."

I nodded at this logic and sighed. "I should be going."

"Why?" Peece asked slowly.

"Because you're moving camp in the morning, which means you need to sleep."

Peece nodded and waved goodnight as I disappeared back into the trees. As I swung back to my own land, not bothering with the night-vision goggles since I could see just fine, I wondered on what had just happened between Peece and myself. She didn't seem threatened or angry with me. She was genuinely calm. That's something odd to me and, if I decided to admit it to myself, I wanted it to happen again.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve**

I was woken up the next morning by whispering. Staying still and keeping my breathing even, I listened to the conversation.

"But Boulder," a high voice was saying. "You saw how she beat up Shiner and left all those cuts on Gato. She's genuinely dangerous."

"All the more reason to get her on our team." A deeper voice pointed out.

"But what if she just tries to kill us?" a third, also high voice, inquired.

"You two run and I'll kill her. One less tribute, right?"

"O-ok, Boulder." The first voice agreed. "I'll wake her up."

"No need." I said aloud, causing three gasps of fear. "I've been awake for awhile. Quite a noisy bunch, aren't you?" I slowly sat up and stretched, eying the trio that seemed to be following me.

"Why didn't you get up and talk to us then, huh?" The boy, Boulder, demanded angrily. It seemed that everything I did seemed to make him angry. Nice.

"Why are you on my land?" I countered, yawning as I looked up at the sky.

"Your land?" Twine asked in confusion.

"Have you looked at the trees around you? Or at this particular tree?" I raised an eyebrow as they shook their heads. "Come on, let's jump down and take a look."

"Jump?" Wheat inquired, paling. "But we're nearly to the top of the tallest tree in this area."

I shrugged. "Suit yourself climbing. I'll see you on the ground."

Then, with all three of them watching in awed horror, I jumped from the branch I had been sleeping on and began my descent to the ground. Landing neatly on my feet, I looked back up at them with a raised eyebrow and they began climbing quickly to the ground.

"How did you do that?" Twine asked, gazing up at me with wide eyes.

"Funny how that question keeps coming up, huh?" I smiled down at the three of them and surveyed them. Boulder was scowling up at me with a mixture of annoyance, fear and uncertainty. Twine and Wheat wore identical expressions of shock, awe and idolism.

"Alright, let's move on to the subject of 'my territory'. See that 'K' on the tree over there?" They all looked to the tree I was pointing at and nodded. "Now see it on that tree? And that tree? And that tree?" They turned back to me with identical nods. "**That's** how you know you're in my territory. If the tree has a 'K' marking, you're in danger if I'm awake." I turned to them to see that they were once again wide-eyed. "So, what brings you to my humble empire?"

None of them moved for a few seconds and I sighed. "Talk or I'll get bored and kill you."

Twine hastily pushed Boulder forward and took Twine into her arms in a protective position. Boulder cleared his throat awkwardly. "We, uh, we were wondering if you wanted to join up with us to defeat the Careers. You seem to have the weaponry and the skill. We've been raiding the Cornucopia ever since this thing began so we've got the food. If we join forces, the Careers are history."

I couldn't help it; I snickered at his logic. The vibes I was getting from him purely read _traitor_ and that never sat well with me. But then I looked beyond him to poor Wheat and Twine and knew that I had to protect them until the elements took them out. Rolling my eyes up to the heavens, I sighed. "Fine, I'm on your side… for now."

Boulder nodded and held out his hand. I glanced at it and back up at him. "I don't shake. It makes my hair stand on end when other people touch me."

The hand dropped. "Come on, we'll take you back to camp."

"Or, you can move your camp into my territory since it's about the safest place in the entire wood."

Boulder hesitated, trying to decide if I was setting him up for murder, but seemed to think naught of it. Smart guy. "Come on Twine, Wheat. Help me get the stuff and bring it here." The two girls shot frightened looks at me before scurrying after Boulder.

Mariposa fluttered down to my shoulder and I glanced at her. _Playtoys?_ She asked.

"Of course, my dear Foreverfly. If we're going to be allies, I might as well have fun with them. And what better way than to scare them naked?"

_No better way, Kaos._

"Exactly. Let's get more hunting done before they get back. I'm in the mood for rabbit stew tonight, how about you?"

_I think I'll pass._

I shrugged. "Suit yourself, Mariposa. More for me." With that, I began looking around for some of my traps to see if I caught something good.

* * *

><p>Hours later, I was sitting around a campfire, roasting a rabbit on a spit while Twine and Wheat talked about the latest activities of the Careers and Boulder at like a dog. I stared at him in disgust for a moment before hearing a slight fluttering sound. Mariposa was back form checking out the area. "Hello there, Mariposa." I murmured, stroking her back as she landed. "Area safe?"<p>

_Safe and sound for now, Kaos._

"Thanks so much."

"Why is there a butterfly on your shoulder?" Boulder asked, looking up from licking his fingers. "Is it food?"

"Eat her and you've sealed your own death, small guy."

"Then why do you keep talking to it?"

I sighed at having to explain this to so many people. I mean, seriously, have these people not kept up with what the Capitol's been doing? "Mariposa is my Foreverfly. She's the butterfly that stays with me forever because I was the first human to touch her. She's with me until the day I die."

Boulder stared at me before laughing uproariously. "So what you're telling me… is that you're a kickbutt ninja girl with a lot of power behind her words and plenty of actions to back her up, but she's cursed to roam around the rest of her life in the presence of a **_butterfly?_**"

I growled and my hand flew to my boot. With a perfectly aimed throw, Boulder was pinned against the tree he had been leaning against. I removed the knife from my other boot and held the point in position to just above his throat. "Don't speak about Mariposa as if she's some vermin rat like you. She's been a loyal friend to me this entire time and I'm thankful I have her or I would have hunted and slaughtered all of you by now. Show her respect or you'll be the next to die, Rocky boy."

Boulder glared at me and opened his mouth, probably to say, "My _name_ is **Boulder**!" But fortunately for him, he rethought it and nodded with a surly grimace.

"Good boy. I don't want to have to do you like the Gamemakers and hold you at knifepoint every time I want something. Especially not respect for my best friend."

I walked over and pulled my knife out of the tree with a simple twitch of my hand. Boulder glared at me before staring into the fire for a bit. When he, Twine and Wheat had all retired to bed and were fast asleep, I stared into the embers for a bit, thinking on just killing them all right now. But I couldn't do that until I actually quite working with them. Yes, that's right, I actually had a bit of pride to uphold. So naturally, when I had kicked dirt into the embers, I climbed up to a high branch in a nearby tree and fell asleep, Mariposa climbing onto my shoulder as I did so.

* * *

><p>In the morning, I awoke at dawn and yawned, glancing down at the other three still fast asleep below me. "What time do you think they normally wake up, Mariposa?"<p>

_Probably only when the sun hits one of their faces and that person wakes the others._

"That's never a good way to live. You wake up to the dawn; it secures your safety because enemies would have to travel during the night in order to attack you and they'll most likely be tired. Come on, let's wake them up." I flipped from the tree and landed right next to Boulder's head, making him jump up groggily, brandishing a sharp stick as he looked around.

"Wake up call." I told him. "It's dawn, you should be awake."

"Why?" Boulder grumbled. "It's not like the Careers can-."

I slapped a hand over his mouth before he could say anything more. "Don't say it aloud or it just might happen." I snarled, removing my hand. "Wake up Twine, I'll get Wheat. We need to keep lookouts in case the Careers travel into the territory."

"Who died and made you the boss?" Boulder demanded, crossing his arms and trying to act buff and menacing.

"You'll have died before you become the boss of me, Rocky Boy."

I heard him growl under his breath and I could hear the whoosh as he shot the stick at me. I turned and let the stick pierce me, barely wincing as I pulled it from my arm and glared at the boy in front of me. Boulder wore a smug smile as if he had gotten the better of me. I snarled and threw the stick without needing to aim. It struck the little prick right in the shoulder and I grinned maliciously. Removing one of my knives, I held it up to moot point and got ready to throw it, but a shout stopped me.

"Wait!" I stopped to see Twine looking at me in fright. "We're supposed to be a team to defeat the Careers. We can't be fighting!"

I growled under my breath as my eyes shifted back to Boulder who was trying to look unfazed as he pulled the stick from his shoulder. _Can't do me like me._ I thought smugly. Wheat slowly began helping Boulder with his shoulder while I twirled my knife on my fingers.

"Don't mess with me, Rocky." I said lowly. "Or next time, Twine won't be there to help you."

Boulder growled under his throat and said, "You know what? We don't need you to defeat the Careers. You can go rot for all we care; there's no longer an alliance between us."

A smile flitted across my lips before I transformed it into a snarl. "Then get off my land. You have exactly twenty-four hours to have all of your stuff removed or all three of you die. Understood?"

"Why should we listen to you?" Boulder asked contemptuously. This kid was either stupid, a lunatic or… he had a death wish. Instantly, my arm shot out and clutched him by the throat.

"Because if you don't get off my land, _you'll_ be the first to die and I will personally eat the meat from your bones and leave them in a mud puddle until the hovercar can find them. Now **_start packing!_**"

I flung him into a tree and leaned against another, glaring at the little pain in the tail. He slowly stood and, with the help of the two smaller girls, he began packing up the camp. I felt a bit guilty making Twine and Wheat leave with this prick, but I couldn't have liabilities living where I did.

So, I watched them go and climbed into my tree to think. _Did I do the right thing by sending them away? Well of course I did! We're supposed to be murdering each other after all. Still, poor Wheat and Twine. They have to stay with **that** guy in order to survive._ I sighed as I just let the sun's rays lure me back to sleep. I wasn't moving anywhere else today.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen**

Just as to be predicted, when I awoke next, the three musketeers were gone. I smiled and decided that I needed to get some hunting for the day. As I went around checking my traps, I softly began singing. I remember that during the last training session, I had started singing while trying to build a fire and Twine walked over to listen. When I was finished, she sat down and looked up at me.

"You have a pretty voice, Kaos." she'd said. "Do you sing a lot?"

"Not really." I'd replied. "I usually just sing when I'm not thinking about it."

"Well, could you sing for me sometime?"

I'd looked down into her curious and pleading eyes and slowly nodded. "Sure Twine," I'd agreed. "I think I will sing to you sometime."

I sighed as I pulled out of the memory. I had to continue my hunting even though I had plenty of meat in my pack already. But you could never be too careful when it came to food. It might all get wiped away unexpectedly and you might get stuck with nothing. I was rewarded for my efforts when I got near the edge of my territory. A very plump rabbit was hanging from a somewhat hazardous snare that I had done in a hurry. Pulling one of my knives from my artillery, I threw it with precision and severed the string connecting the trap to the tree branch, making the rabbit fall limply to the ground.

Just as I was picking up the rabbit, I heard a scream of surprise. My eyes widened; I hadn't known anyone was within close proximity to me. Following the direction of the scream, I heard a gasp and Twine's unmistakable high pitched voice. "Wheat? Are you okay?"

So Wheat had been the one to scream. Quickly scaling a tree, I peered through the leaves to see Twine climbing another tree roughly seventy-five feet away. Wheat was hanging from a net trap quite a ways up on a high branch; it was probably so none of the Careers could steal the food if they found it. I watched as Wheat stayed perfectly still while Twine cut away at the ropes holding her. Twine was trying to comfort Wheat and it sounded almost like she was… cooing? Yes, it sounded like she was cooing to Wheat and, upon closer inspection, the looks in both their eyes suggested… my own eyes widened in disbelief.

_They've fallen in love._ It couldn't have been true, but there it was; the way Twine cut away at the ropes delicately, the coos she sent down to Wheat and the trusting smile on Wheat's face. _They don't care about District boundaries._ I thought. _They just want to be together._

_You can have that too, Kaos._ Mariposa flapped her wings as she stood on my shoulder. _You and Peece could be just like Twine and Wheat: careless and in love._

"But I'm not careless. I want to win so that District Twelve can finally have food. I need-." I stopped. Footsteps—slow, steady, careful footsteps—were approaching the two girls.

Looking up in panic, I shouted, "Twine, look out!" Stupid? Yes, I know, but something about the way Twine and Wheat look and act just makes my protective side come out for them.

I was rewarded for my moment of stupidity by Twine moving out of the way of a spear which landed on the other side of the clearing somewhere in the bushes. But everything slowed down as Twine flailed helplessly on the branch for a moment. From my position fifteen yards away, there was no way I could get to her fast enough. My heart thudded painfully as in my chest until Twine made a desperate grab for the branch.

I let out a sigh of relief… that turned into a gasp of horror as Twine's knife severed the rope holding Wheat off the ground; I watched in startling clarity as Wheat descended to the ground. I flinched slightly as I heard the telltale _crick-crack_ of a neck breaking. Twine screamed out and I turned to the trees to see two figures hastily making their way away from the accident. I hopped from my branch and rapidly ran over to Twine as she climbed down and cradled Wheat's limp body.

Twine looked up at me and her eyes narrowed in anger. "Leave me alone!" she shouted.

"Please Twine-."

"No! It's all your fault she's dead. Everywhere you go, you cause destruction and sadness. You're evil! Just leave me alone!"

That stung. It stung more than I thought it would. I had merely wanted to save her, let her live a little longer. Setting my jaw and fighting against the tears building behind my eyes, I hitched my pack higher and returned to the cover of the underbrush. No sooner had I gotten ten paces away than I heard Twine speaking again.

"Boulder! Look what that demon did to Wheat. Now it's just you and me…"

"Sorry Twine, but I don't think I can work with you anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I'm joining the Careers so that I have a better chance of winning. And you're in the way of that."

Then there was a scream of agony and I felt my blood chill. Turning tail, I ran back to the edge of the clearing and climbed a tree to peer down. Boulder and Shake were exchanging a high five as Twine knelt on the ground with a spear so far into her back that it had come out her stomach.

"Come on," Boulder said jubilantly. "Let's get going before the 'demon child' gets too far."

They passed under my tree and I jumped down next to Twine. She looked up at me in surprise and tried to speak, but I shushed her and brought Wheat's body over to lay next to her. Twine stared at me in shock as I laid her down as well.

"I-I'm s-sor-ry." Twine said sincerely, looking into my eyes apologetically.

I gave her a soft smile and slowly began to sing. "Go to sleep. Go to sleep. Go my sweet Twine and Wheat. When you wake, I won't be here, but you'll be safe, so don't cry tears."

Twine's eyes slowly slid shut and her body went limp. I placed a kiss to each of their heads before bounding back into the underbrush with Mariposa fluttering beside me.

"Boulder and Shake are about to get a rude awakening." I snarled, following the trail the two of them had left.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen**

Following the trail, Boulder and Shake led me right to the Careers' campsite. "Is she dead?" Gato demanded.

"Twine and Wheat are both dead, Gato." Boulder said with pride.

"Good job, Boulder. Shake come in handy?"

"Yes sir."

"Was Kaos anywhere to be found?"

"She stopped my spear from hitting Twine the first time," Shake explained in his deep tenor. "But her bravado caused Twine to accidentally kill Wheat and she couldn't stop my spear the second time."

Gato nodded and turned to Peece, who was showing Shiner the basic way to build a fire. "Peece?" The blue-eyed beauty looked up curiously. "Where's Pine? I need him to get rid of someone else."

"Um, I think Pine went to the river to get water. Who else needs to be killed?"

Gato shrugged with a nonchalant smile. "Oh, no one special. Just… Estrella."

Peece's eyes widened in alarm and I cocked my head curiously. "But she's the other tribute from your District. Why her?"

"Because she's too weak to be able to defeat any of us. She'll only be a liability to us if we don't kill her. Unless Kaos kills her first."

_Well, I might have killed her first, but now I won't bother._

Just then, Pine returned carrying two heavy-looking jugs of water. "Got the water you asked for, Shimmer." He said, casting a shy, half-smile at the blonde. She batted her eyelashes at him and Pine blushed a light pink.

I glanced back at Gato to find him glaring serrated daggers at Pine. "Pine!" he barked. "I need you to go on a hunting mission."

"For who?" Pine gave Gato a blank stare as the bigger boy smiled.

"I need you to kill Estrella."

Pine nodded, but I saw a flash of pain in his eyes. It seemed he didn't like killing any more than Wheat and Twine. As Pine made his way back out into the woods with a sword and dagger, I hung back for another moment. Gato was whispering to Shake and Boulder; I tried to listen in, but I was too far away to hear anything. Moments later, Gato and Boulder headed into the forest after Pine; I silently jumped from one branch to another, following them to see what would happen. Mariposa did her best to stay hidden beside me and she was the right shade for it. She could have been the sun, the sky and the grass or trees. I didn't risk swinging ahead to Pine in case Gato and Boulder caught me. We followed Pine for three and a half hours before all four of us heard something ahead. It sounded like someone was singing very softly.

Pine peered through the brush and nodded to himself. Moving as quietly as he could, Pine stepped out of the bushes and into a tiny clearing. There, I could see the dark brown hair and lanky form of Estrella sitting near the dying embers of a fire. Pine moved out so that he was right behind her and he raised the sword high above his head. My eyes flicked from Pine's motionless body to Estrella's slowly swaying one and back again.

Finally, Pine lowered the sword to his side and sighed heavily. Estrella jumped up defensively when she heard Pine standing behind her. "I can't kill you." Pine stated. "I won't kill you."

Gato exploded from the underbrush angrily. "You idiot!" he roared. "We could have been rid of her, but you're too much of a coward. Boulder, take out Estrella!"

Boulder nodded and surged forward with a dagger in hand. I watched, wide-eyed, as he repeatedly stabbed Estrella in her chest and stomach, her screams echoing off the trees around us as he continued plunging the blade into her body. When Estrella finally fell limply to the ground, Gato nodded and pulled out a sword of his own.

"Loot the place while I deal with Weak Link here." He raised the sword high and I saw Pine set his jaw and bare his neck, his resignation clear in his eyes. I cringed as I heard two thuds and a slight rustling. Pine was dead.

* * *

><p>I felt sick to my stomach as I followed Boulder and Gato back to the campsite. Such a display of defeat was unknown to me; the game I hunted either ran or didn't see me and none of the other tributes had done it thus far. I now sat in a tree high above the ground as I looked down at the remaining Careers.<p>

Peece looked up as Gato and Boulder returned and she stood. "Where's Pine?" she demanded, her hand going instinctively to her bow and arrows.

"He's dead." Gato replied indifferently, making my blood boil at his reaction to Peece's sudden distress. "And don't even bother with those."

"Why did you kill him?" Peece inquired heatedly, setting an arrow into place with one hand.

"Because he was just as weak as Estrella; he had to be disposed of."

Peece shook her head in disgust and went off into the trees on her own. I glared at Gato as well and jumped to the ground, running as far away as possible. I needed to find a place far enough away that the Careers couldn't easily find me, but I could effectively continue watching their movements. Running about a mile or two away, I climbed into a particularly tall tree and climbed as close to the top as I could. This way, I could watch the Careers and if they happened to see me, they wouldn't be able to get me because I knew that even Peece's arrows couldn't reach this high without her being somewhere in a tree as well.

Watching the activity of the Careers, I looked to the surrounding area and saw Peece, hunched over a few yards away from camp with her head in her hands. I cocked my head and jumped up. I rose into the air before soaring downward to the next tree a few yards away. Leaping from one tree to the next, I landed in the tree right above Peece and used my string to suspend myself upside down, just like that first night.

"What's wrong, hon?" I asked softly, so as not to scare her.

Peece looked up at me for a moment before shrugging. "What do you care? You want to kill me just as much as the rest of them do. Why not just do it now so that I can be out of this Game, this hellhole."

"Oh, now that's no way to be speaking, Peece. You have to stay strong. Remember Cania? She's expecting you home."

"No, she's not." Peece sniffled. "She died the day of the Reaping. Just as I was getting on the train, Cania tried jumping on too and she fell in front of the train's wheels. It killed her in seconds and I didn't even have the chance to say goodbye." This shocked me. She had said to all of Panem that Cania was waiting for her back at home when, in actuality, the poor cur had been killed the day she left. That must have been very hard for her to deal with, indeed.

"I'm sorry." I mumbled. "I didn't know. I thought… I mean, you said she was waiting. I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry." Peece sniffed, glaring at the ground. "It's better that she die before I do so that she doesn't have to be disappointed when I don't return."

"Why do you keep speaking like that?" I inquired. "As if you're going to die. You're the most skilled weaponist here. There's no way they could beat you without ganging up on you. And I wouldn't let that happen."

"You wouldn't?" the brunette looked up at me in shock. "Why not?"

I gave her a wry smile. "Because I've already been on the receiving end, haven't I? It's not fun and I think that if you're going to take out an enemy, at least do it with dignity rather than cowardice." Peece nodded and opened her mouth to say something, but we both heard footsteps.

"Will you stay tonight?" Peece asked softly.

"I can't." I whispered back. "I have to be in my own territory until I know what to do. But I'll be back as soon as I can, alright?" Peece nodded and I raised myself into the tree just as Gato came out of the brush.

"Peece, are you alright? I'm sorry about Pine. I mean, I guess he was like a brother to you or something and I wasn't thinking."

I instantly saw through the lie. He didn't care about Peece's feelings; he just wanted her back on his side so that he has a better chance of living. I growled under my breath as I watched them, my eyes narrowed slightly.

"Yeah, Gato, it's ok." Peece sniffed, wiping her eye. "I'll miss him, though. He was a good friend to talk to about my small problem."

"Problem?" Gato asked.

"Being in love with someone from another District when you're destined to kill each other isn't exactly a good thing."

"So, who is it?" Gato asked slowly. "I can be your new Pine."

Peece looked down and blushed. "I would rather not say." She murmured. "Come on, let's head back."

I raised an eyebrow at this. So she must have been falling for Gato if she wouldn't tell him. I snarled at this. She'll be mine, one way or the other. As I swung back to my tree, I thought more on a good plan to kill Gato. The other Careers would have to be out of the way in order for that to happen. One by one, they would all fall and then Peece will be mine to have.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen**

Snoozing in trees was my thing. Sometimes, back in District Twelve, I would spend entire weeks in trees and wake up at dawn to wash and head to school. I hated sleeping close to the ground. So I was a bit discouraged when I was woken by drops of water falling on my head. I glared up at the sky as more rain began pouring down on me.

Sighing, I grabbed my pack and shimmied down the tree, going off to look for a drier place to sleep. After thirteen minutes of walking, I found that the rain was coming down too hard to see anything beyond it. Growling under my breath, I just reached out blindly for the nearest tree and began climbing, slipping every now and then before finally flopping down onto a sturdy branch high above the muddy ground.

_Well, _I thought bitterly, _At least I won't have to wash my hair._

Suddenly, my eyes widened and I looked around. "Mariposa?" I called.

I felt a movement inside my jacket and peeked inside to see Mariposa looking up at me innocently. I smiled and closed my jacket so that no water would get to her. Reaching into my pack, I pulled out my umbrella and situated it against the tree so that I was underneath of it and I could keep myself somewhere around dry. I felt Mariposa curl her wings around herself and decided to follow her lead and get some sleep. When I next woke up, It must have been quite awhile because there was a huge flood of water on the forest floor. Before even moving an inch, I let Mariposa out for air.

_Finally!_ I chuckled as she stretched her wings.

"I'm going to go for a swim," I told her. "If you see someone coming, fly up as high as you can until I return."

She fluttered her wings in agreement and flew up a little higher. I stripped myself down and hung my clothes on the branch I had been sleeping on. Balancing carefully on my branch, I took a deep breath and dived into the water below. I was correct in thinking that it was deeper than my height so I sank pretty far. Shooting back to the surface, I took a deep breath and began treading water. The water was icy cold so there must have been a river nearby.

As I lazily floated backward stroking every now and then, I wondered idly what had happened to the Careers. How far had the flood stretched if it was this deep? With how big many of the Careers were, could they really climb to safety? I decided that if they had died, I would have heard the cannons go off. As I stroked backward, I stared laxly at the sky, enjoying this new form of freedom the Gamemakers have provided for me.

I chuckled as I passed a floating branch. "So much for drowning us. The worst they probably did was wash away the Careers' supplies. Just then, I saw a flash of yellow and glanced around. The yellow flash got closer and my hand went instinctively to the only weapon I hadn't removed, my neck-knife. I relaxed when I realized that Mariposa had decided to follow me. I laughed as she landed on my chest and I stroked her wings.

"Silly Mariposa, you were supposed to guard our supplies."

_I would much rather spend time with a friend rather than being bored gazing at supplies that weren't going to move._

I gave her a smile and continued stroking her wings as I watched the wildlife go by. Suddenly, something burst out of the water not too far away from me and I immediately went on the defensive, pulling my knife effortlessly from my neck and flipping it open. The person across from me was the male tribute from District Eleven, Crop. He turned to me in fear and began swimming away as fast as possible. I surveyed his floundering form for a moment before deciding to put him out of his misery and send him to Wheat and Twine.

"Crop! If you hold still, I can do it quickly without any pain on your part."

He kept swimming away and I sighed. Aiming carefully, I threw the knife the short five yards to the boy's back and heard him scream. Blood seeped from his wound as he went underwater. Taking in a deep breath, I dived after him. Grabbing onto his hand, I pulled him back to the surface of the water and looked at him. Holding him tenderly, I stroked his cheeks before removing my knife and letting him go, allowing him to drown.

I only have so much patience for one person and I only offer an easy way out once. He kept swimming, so he will drown for it. I continued on my way and I smiled when I heard the cannon fire moments later. I saw the hoverpad pull Crop's body from the water and nodded to myself. That's six more tributes dead, only ten of us left. I continued swimming, making my way back to my clothes. In this baking sun, they should have been dry.

* * *

><p>I spent the next few days having to hop from tree to tree in order to avoid being soaked to my core. The Gamemakers knew for sure that they could have just drained the place completely, but must have wanted someone to starve or something. Well, it wouldn't be me. I had plenty of food left from the Cornucopia, so I was good for another five days, eight if I made the food last. But after three days of sitting in a tree or swimming naked, I had to finally admit that I was slowly going insane from the lack of inactivity.<p>

"Where is Gato with his stupid sword when you need him for entertainment?" I muttered under my breath, glancing down to see that most of the water had receded away and that I could effectively walk through the water without going ankle-deep in it.

I jumped down and began trekking through the wood to see if anyone else was around. There seemed to be a decided lack of activity around my land lately. I guess the flood forced everyone away to higher ground. Then again, the Careers weren't exactly close either. I shrugged and continued walking, enjoying the silence of the forest as the animals slowly began realizing that the flood was over and they could finally come back out into the open again. Then, I was about tenor so miles from the edge of my land when I heard a feeble cry. Was that a hurt animal? No, they were speaking actual words. "Help!"

I sighed and decided to figure out who needed assistance this time. Moving quickly through the trees, the voice became more distinctive and I was surprised to find that it sounded like… Peece? Was she hurt? I moved faster, following the sounds of her cries as I got closer.

Finally, I found her. She was calling out weakly for the other Careers to help her. Sadly, for her, they were quite a few miles out of hearing range, looking for her. She looked weak, obviously hungry and probably dehydrated too. I sighed, knowing that my district wouldn't understand my reasoning. Jumping down, I slowly approached her; Peece looked up at me with wide surprised eyes that quickly turned into resignation.

"Please kill me quickly." She pleaded.

"I'm not here to kill you." I told her, helping her to her feet. Even though we were both malnourished, she had a bit more weight than I did, but I had more muscle. Pulling her arm over my shoulder, I guided her rapidly toward the river, which wasn't too far away. Peece collapsed by the water, stuck her head under and took several gulps of water before resurfacing for air. I smiled down at her, finding that cute rather than weak like I usually would. She looked up at me, her sopping hair swinging into her eyes as she gave me a confused stare.

"Th-thank you for helping me."

I snorted. "Hold on, one sec."

I jumped into the trees and searched around a moment for what I was looking for; spotting it, I jumped over to it and began picking the small black berries from the branches. Trotting back to Peece, I set the berries down and nudged them toward her. "You need to eat, keep your strength up."

Peece nodded and began eating the berries slowly, not completely trusting me, but not rejecting me either; I did a happy dance in my head because it was a start and it proved that she didn't hate me for killing Bull. Once she was finished eating and had deemed that I really wasn't trying to kill her, she flopped onto the ground and closed her eyes for a moment.

"Sleep." I told her softly. "I'll watch over you until you wake again."

Peece looked up at me apprehensively and I simply smiled down at her, turning my back to face the woods as Mariposa landed on my shoulder and faced the opposite direction. Slowly, Peece sank to the ground and was soon asleep. I watched her for a moment, noting the gently flutter of her hair as she breathed, the way her body looked so relaxed and calm and vulnerable. I highly doubted I looked that… innocent and carefree in my sleep. Sighing, I sat down with my sword and stared off into the woods.

"Get ready, Mariposa," I said softly. "It might be a long night."

So, there I sat, all night long doing vigil. Once or twice, I saw flashlights in the trees and had to fight against my instinct so that I didn't run away from Peece. For all I knew, a different tribute had gotten hold of a flashlight and was looking to kill her. Looking down at the beauty before me, I realized that I could kill her now; I could slit her throat or stab her heart and she would be out of the Games for good.

I slowly raised my knife above her and prepared to plunge it down, but stopped myself as Peece stirred. She rolled over in her sleep and I saw a smile adorning her lips. She was sleeping… soundly? She was comfortable knowing that someone was watching over her to make sure no danger came to her. I lowered the knife limply to my side and stared in wonder at this girl that was so willing to trust me even though we were on opposing sides. I sank to my knees beside her and stroked her hair, gently pushing it out of her face so I could see the cute freckles decorating her otherwise pale skin. I smiled and sat back down to continue my vigil.

Mariposa landed on my shoulder again as if to say, _We don't have to kill her yet. Let her live another day._ I stroked the butterfly's back and continued watching the trees around me.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen**

In the morning, I climbed a tree to scout out for any of the other Careers. I spotted them a little ways off and they were on the move this way. Leaping down, I quickly shook Peece to wake her. "Hm?" she asked, looking up at me groggily.

"The other Careers are coming for you. I have to go."

"W-wait!" she called. "Please, I can talk them into keeping you alive. Please don't leave."

I shook my head at her solemnly. "I always keep on the move. It's how I've always survived. Always move… away from whatever's trying to kill me." I lithely climbed a tree just as the other Careers appeared in the clearing.

"Peece!" they all called almost… in relief? I raised an eyebrow as I peered at them. I should probably have been trying to make distance between them and me since there were only ten tributes left by this time, but I was too curious. Ah well, curiosity wouldn't dare mess with this cat, right?

I peered through the branches at them all and found them checking Peece over for wounds. Well, all of the males seemed to be fawning over her while the females simply hung back and watched with scowls on their faces. My brows furrowed for a moment before it struck me: they were trying to see which one of them was the one she had a crush on so that they had a better chance of living against her bow and arrow. I watched them intently, trying to discern which one of them Peece was crushing on. But she looked at them all in the same way, shy gratitude.

"I'm fine, really. I just had to find water because I was so thirsty. Come on, we'd better get moving to find the other four tributes before they find us."

They all nodded in agreement and Peece looked up into the trees, looking for me. For a split second our eyes locked and she gave me a small smile before trekking after the other Careers. I smiled to myself and began my jumping, leaping from branch-to-branch, following the Careers. Oddly enough, I was breaking my own rule, just so that I could keep her safe. Yeah, I know, you don't have to tell me. I'm whipped.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter Seventeen**

They traveled for about two hours before they reached a place surrounded by rock barricades. "We had to barricade the place to make sure the flood didn't wash away any supplies." Gato explained to Peece as she looked around.

"Good, at least we know we're safe."

"Safe and sound, Peece." Shiner agreed, smiling through a busted lip. She was healing fairly well from the damage I'd caused, but I could tell right away that a lot of those scars were going to take awhile to heal.

"Right you are, Shiner." Peece chuckled.

"Peece?" Shimmer asked. "Can you go hunting for some food for us? We're a little low on the meat supply."

Peece nodded and grabbed her bow and arrow from a nearby pouch. "I'll be back in a little while." She said with a small wave.

"Try not to get lost this time." Gato called.

"I'll do my best."

I sat in the tree watching the rest of the Careers for a moment before following after Peece. I leaped from tree to tree as she made her way through the woods, listening and looking for any animals. Suddenly, Peece stopped in the middle of a small clearing.

"Kaos, I know you're there. Come out."

I contemplated staying hidden, but shrugged and decided that there couldn't be much harm in just jumping down and showing myself. "Hey there, Darlin'." I smiled as Peece turned to face me.

"How long have you been following me?" she asked.

"For about as long as it took for you to make eye contact with me before going off with the Careers."

"So, basically, the entire time?" she continued.

"Yes."

"And you haven't killed any of us?"

I shrugged. "I wasn't joking to Flickerman when I said that I wanted to relax and let the Careers do all the work."

"But still, we've all been within perfect range for you to take shots at all of us from the trees. Why not just get rid of us?"

I slowly walked forward and smiled down at her. "A cat loves to play with the mouse before she makes a meal out of it."

Peece raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What do you mean?"

I stopped myself from answering and instead, put Peece's bow and arrow up in a defensive position before bounding a few feet away and holding up a knife as if to throw it. "I bet my knife will kill you before your arrow will even touch me, District One." I spat, glaring at Peece as she stared at me in confusion.

"How do you figure that?" she snorted, not acting, but going off of whatever I gave her.

"Because I've been practicing my whole life to kill people like you. It'll be a piece of cake."

Suddenly, a knife flew out of the shadows and I jumped to the side to avoid it. Turning to the side, I saw Shiner standing there glaring at me.

"Peece, shoot her!" Shiner shouted.

Peece took the initiative and shot an arrow slightly to the left of me. I jumped to the left to act like I was trying to avoid it and regretted it instantly. The arrow sank into my side, not breaking anything and not puncturing anything vital, but it hurt. I growled under my breath and slowly stood, taking the arrow out of my body and tossing it back at Peece.

"You're going to have to do better than that next time, Miss Sparkles." I coughed, blood dribbling out of my mouth slightly. With that, I did a backflip into the brush and climbed a tree.

"Peece, you did it!" Shiner cheered. "You've as good as killed Kaos!"

"But what if she heals the arrow wound?" Peece asked worriedly. "She could come back for revenge and she might not play any games the second time."

"There's no way she can heal a wound like that." Shiner declared proudly. "You got her too close to her heart for her to heal. I bet it punctured her lung or something. She was even coughing up blood. You're amazing! Let's go tell Gato."

Peece nodded and began following Shiner, but before she headed back into the brush, she looked around for me. When our eyes met, I gave her a soft nod and Peece let out a breath of relief. Wait, relief? Shouldn't she be trying to kill me? This just kept getting stranger and stranger. Covering the wound in my side, I hopped from one tree to the next, following them back to the camp.

"Gato!" Shiner shouted excitedly. "Peece killed Kaos!"

"What?" Gato exclaimed.

"Well, uh, I didn't exactly kill her." Peece said with a small blush. "I shot her with an arrow and-."

"She was coughing up blood, Gato!" Shiner interrupted. "She had a big wound in her chest and she was coughing up blood. There was a lot of blood coming from the arrow gash too. I bet she'll be dead by morning."

"Gato, I'm not sure if I hit her close enough to her heart for her to have enough damage to die. She tried to dodge it after all so she could still be living."

"We'll just have to wait and see what happens." Gato said, handing Shiner off to Shimmer. "Are you hurt? Did she challenge you?"

"Yeah," Peece replied. "She said her knife could kill me before my arrow touched her. You don't think she can catch arrows, do you?"

My eyes widened in utter shock. _She couldn't possibly know…_

"That's impossible!" Gato scoffed. "That's like catching one of Shimmer's knives and stopping it from stabbing you. Not likely to happen." Peece nodded and I gave a sigh of relief.

"You're overestimating, Kaos." I told myself as I watched Peece walk over to her tent. I swung over to the tree next to it and peeked my head through the back flap. Peece was arranging some medical supplies and she patted a spot next to her. I hesitated, but sat next to her and Peece looked at me.

"Where?"

"Just outside the left of my ribcage. Didn't hit anything important."

Peece nodded and made a motion. I slowly pulled my shirt over my head and showed her the wound. The brunette opposite me pulled a washcloth from a bucket of water near her and began cleaning it. I stayed perfectly still as she did so and only wince when she put some cold cream on the wound.

"Cold." I whispered.

"Sorry." She slowly began wrapping gauze on the wound and finally told me I could go.

"Thank you." I murmured.

"Kaos?" I raised an eyebrow quizzically. "Will you sleep here tonight?"

"As in, in the tree over your tent?"

"No, in my tent. With me."

"Peece, someone like Shiner could come bursting into your tent unannounced and there wouldn't be enough time for me to escape. If they found out I was sleeping in your tent—never mind that you patched up my wound—then they'd kill you." Peece nodded with sad eyes.

"But I'll still see you right?" she asked hopefully.

"Of course," I grinned. "I'm your little bodyguard. You'll always see me, in the trees or in the underbrush."

Peece nodded and waved goodbye as I left out the tent, hopped into the bushes and climbed a tree to a leafy branch to sleep. As I was getting comfortable, I saw Mariposa fluttering toward me. She was closer to the ground than I would have preferred her to be, but I knew she had nothing to worry about. Suddenly, a figure jumped out of the brush and clapped their hands around Mariposa. I stifled a gasp of horror as Boulder resurfaced from the bushes and grinned evilly at my Forverfly.

"Well, it's nice to see you again, Mariposa." he chuckled maliciously, moving further into the camp. "I think Gato will enjoy knowing that you've decided to join us. Especially since that means that Kaos can't be far behind. A nice trap for the troublemaker should be just the thing to boost me into second-in-command."

And I watched, petrified, as he bounded away with my best friend. After what felt like years, a strangled whisper finally made its way out of my throat.

"Mariposa."


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter Eighteen**

I had to get her back. I _had_ to. But I couldn't just go barging into the camp; the Careers were bound to jump me again. What could I do?

"Hey Gato!" Boulder called.

"What is it, Boulder?" Gato demanded. "It's nearly sunset!"

"You know how Kaos always has that stupid butterfly on her shoulder?"

"Yeah, it's her Foreverfly. So?"

"I'm almost positive that this is the very same butterfly." He showed Gato what was in his hands and Gato grinned.

"Good work, Boulder. Very good work indeed. This is the perfect thing to lure Kaos into a trap if she doesn't die." I'll go get a jar to keep her in."

As Gato went to go get a jar, I saw Peece come out of her tent. "What's all the racket?" she demanded. "I was almost asleep."

"I found Kaos' butterfly!" Boulder declared gleefully.

"Is that so?" Peece asked. "How do you know it's Kaos'?"

"Because it's the only butterfly I've seen for miles around with these specific markings on it. Look."

Peece took a closer look at the butterfly and raised an eyebrow. "What are you going to do with it?"

"Gato's getting a jar for it now."

Peece nodded. "And then?"

"We're going to lure Kaos into a trap and make sure that she's dead for good."

To normal human eyes, Peece would have probably given off a nonchalant expression. But I could see the slight widening of her eyes, the way her skin turned paler at the thought of trapping me. If I weren't so worried about Mariposa, I would wonder why she cared, but I was too anxious to find out what they were going to do with my best friend. Gato had returned with a jar and Boulder was putting Mariposa into it. I couldn't let them do that to her!

_Move quickly Kaos!_ I told myself.

Deciding that there was no time like the present and everything else can be damned, I took up three knives and put them into holders on my body before taking up a set of Katanas I had so graciously swiped from Boulder's campsite before he sold out Twine and Wheat. Now, I held the twin swords aloft for a second before standing and jumping from the tree. I landed in front of Boulder and snarled at him, taking a swipe at him with my Katanas. He hurriedly jumped out of the way with a yelp of surprise and I took that opportunity to turn to Gato, who was running away with Mariposa.

"Give her to me!" I roared, jumping after him.

Before I could get to him, Shimmer and Shiner were both in my path. Shimmer was standing defensively in front of Shiner, but this made no difference to me. Slashing at them with my swords, I managed to slice a nice gash down Shimmer's cheek and I think Shiner just lost a finger. I sheathed the two weapons and began punching at the two girls in front of me. I heard a slight _whoosh_ing sound and realized that Shake had decided to join the fight. I jumped into the air and did a flip to avoid the spear. Shimmer and Shiner both dodged out of the way and that gave me a clear pathway through. I landed on my feet and took up the spear as I ran for Gato's tent.

I heard another _whoosh_ and growled in annoyance. Turning, I caught the spear by the handle, turned it and sent it back at Shake before continuing my advance on Gato's tent. When I got to it, Gato was running out with a triumphant grin on his face and I wondered what he was so happy about. Then I smelled it. Smoke. There was smoke in the air. He'd set the tent on fire!

"No!" I screamed, diving through the flap and hurrying inside.

Sure enough, the entire inside of the tent was on fire and Mariposa was at the other end. Taking a breath in, not too deep, I began my journey across the tent to the other side. I heard the voices outside, but didn't dare try and hear them for fear of wasting time.

Things were exploding left and right and I knew I had a matter of time before Mariposa's jar exploded too, taking her with it. I was feeling lightheaded from lack of air and knew that I would need to take a breath soon. But I had to get Mariposa out first. The flames were licking at me, burning my skin and leaving large red marks on my arms. I felt the tears from the smoke slipping down my face and my instinct was telling me to run away, but I was **_not_** leaving Mariposa in here to die.

Finally, in one last attempt to make it to fresh air, I leaned back and bounced forward, grabbing Mariposa's jar and launching us both through the other flap of the tent. I landed unceremoniously in the bushes beyond, but I managed to muster up some reserved energy to let Mariposa out of the jar. She landed on my hand and looked up at me with big, round eyes.

_Thank you for saving me, Kaos._

"Anything for you, Mariposa." I coughed.

I slowly got to my feet and hid behind a tree as the Careers all cheered for the burning tent.

"There's no way she could have survived that!" Gato cheered, slapping high fives with Shake and Boulder as Shimmer twirled Shiner around in her arms. Peece was the only one not celebrating, staring at the flames blankly, looking near catatonic shock.

"She's gone?" Peece whispered. "She's really gone?"

"Yeah Peece!" Shiner exclaimed. "Your arrow wound must have slowed down her defenses."

Peece nodded and took one last look at the flames before retiring to her tent again. "Now that the excitement's over, I'm going back to bed."

The other Careers stared after her in confusion. "We just defeated the biggest threat we've all ever seen on the Games… and she's worried about _sleep?_" Shiner asked, puzzled.

"Let me talk to her." Gato said.

"No, Gato, I'll do it." Shimmer slowly made her way to Peece's tent and went inside. I hurried around the clearing so that I could hear what was being said.

"Peece? Are you alright?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah Shimmer, I'm fine."

"Well, you left the fire kinda fast. We thought you would celebrate."

"Well, it's probably just shock. You know, I was worried that she would come back for revenge and then she goes up in flames. Kinda shock-ish, don't you think?"

"Yeah, I guess. Just, tell me if you need anything, alright?"

"Yeah Shimmer. Thank you."

When Shimmer had left the tent and went back to the other Careers, I slowly snuck out of the cover of wildlife and tapped the ground next to Peece's backflap. Peece slowly came out and I jumped back into the cover of the bushes. Peece's face darkened in suspicion and she grabbed her bow and arrow as she followed me intot he woods. I led her to a nearby open space where the moon could shine down brilliantly. Peece's eyes widened and she stared at me.

"K-Kaos?" she asked. "You-you're _alive?_"

"Alive and kickin' Darlin'." I affirmed.

"B-but you're **dead**." Peece stuttered, trying to make sense of everything. "You died in the fire, just now."

"No. Gato forgot that he had two flaps to his tent. So, I just jumped from one part to another. Though, it makes me wonder why the Gamemakers make the tents so long, you know?"

"Yeah," Peece nodded, still staring at me. "So, you're alive? You're not a figment of my imagination?"

"I'm too awesome to be a figment of someone's imagination. No one can replicate this. Memories never do me justice." Peece's face split into a wide grin that shone almost as bright as the moon. She lunged forward and hugged me to her.

"Thank you for being alive." She sniffed.

"Why are you crying?" I asked.

"Because you're not dead. Why else would I cry?"

"I don't know."

We stood there for a moment, arms around each other until I felt Peece's weight getting heavier and I knew that she was falling asleep. "Come on, let's get you back to camp. You'll see plenty more of me in the days to come."

"How come?" Peece asked sleepily.

I led her back to her tent and waved goodbye before eyeing the other tents perniciously and whispering lowly, "Because no one tries to kill me without serious consequences."


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter Nineteen**

The next morning, the Careers were much happier than normal.

"I can't believe we killed Kaos!" Shiner shouted looking up at the sky.

"That was the best sleep I've had in days." Shimmer yawned, stretching her arms and popping her back.

"Yeah," Gato agreed, coming out of Shimmer's tent. "I think we slept right through the cannon."

I chuckled at that because there had been no cannon to sleep through. I smiled and watched their routine. Because I was 'dead', they didn't seem as alert, as afraid. They knew that none of the other tributes were brave enough to go find them. I sighed and watched as Peece slowly exited her tent with her bow slung over her back.

"Hey guys, what's up?" she called.

"We're just going to kick back today." Gato told her with a large smile.

"We're relaxing today?" Peece inquired.

"Yup," Shimmer giggled. "Shiner and I are going to the river to take a swim. Wanna come?"

"No thanks," Peece replied. "I think I'll go off for a little while and come back after a few hours."

The other Careers nodded and Peece went off into the trees. I followed her immediately, not wanting to leave her alone for one second with a traitor like Boulder around. I followed Peece back to the clearing we'd been in the day before when Shiner had found us.

"Kaos, please come out." I jumped down and landed behind her. Peece turned to me and her eyes roamed my body.

"You're burned." She said softly, taking my arm in her hands. I winced slightly at the sting, but didn't pull away. Peece examined my arm sadly and sighed. "I'm sorry about that, Kaos. I didn't know he would set the tent on fire. Is your friend ok?"

"Yeah, I got Mariposa out on time. She's up there, where no one but Boulder can get to her and the next time I see him, I'm going to kill him."

Peece took my hands in her own and looked up at me pleadingly. "Kaos, please. Let him live just a little longer? He's just a kid, he doesn't deserve to be killed in cold blood. Just let the weather or the animals take him down."

I cocked my head to the side and studied her eyes. "Is he the one, then?" I asked softly. "He's the one from the other District?"

"What?" Peece's eyes widened. "No! He's just a kid! I don't even think he's much more than twelve yet. That and he's not my type."

I raised an eyebrow with a smirk and shook my head. "Alright then. If you say so, Peece."

Peece giggled and sat down on the ground, patting the spot next to her for me to sit down. Once I was next to her, Peece pulled me closer and snuggled into my body. I stiffened somewhat, my skin beginning to crawl at so much contact with a human being, but I swallowed my instinct to run and wrapped my arms around her. Peece sighed in contentment and snuggled further into me.

"So, this is what you planned to do on your day off?" I asked softly, keeping my voice down so that I could hear the woods around us.

"Mhm." Peece hummed, her eyes closed happily.

I stroked her hair softly, gently massaging her scalp. We stayed like that for quite some time until footsteps coming closer caught my attention. Peece had dozed off against me, so I took a few extra seconds to slowly lay her down before flipping backward into the shelter of the trees. I turned around to see Gato and Shimmer walk out of the trees and look around, their eyes zeroing in on Peece.

"She's so exposed out this way." Gato huffed, taking Peece into his arms. "She shouldn't be here, she should be in the cover of the trees."

"Let's get her back to camp." Shimmer ordered. "There are still three other tributes left before we have to kill Shiner and Boulder."

I growled under my breath and just before they turned around, I threw a knife in front of them. They turned quickly to the trees and I grinned widely at them, my eyes narrowed dangerously. Shimmer gasped in horror and Gato began backing away toward the trees.

"B-b-but you're dead!" Shimmer squeaked, also backing away. "Gato killed you last night. You burned alive!"

This only served to make my grin widen and I stepped out of the bushes and into the sunlight. If I am honest with myself, I looked terrible. My clothes had been burned in several places, resulting in me tearing at the burnt places and turning the shirt into little more than a sports bra. My pants were just a little longer than regular shorts. Luckily, my jacket was still intact. I was covered in burns from the fire, dried blood, scars from landing wrongly in the underbrush and a bandage around my side. I looked a sight and this probably served to make Gato and Shimmer even more terrified.

"No, no, no, no." Gato whispered. "There's no way you could have survived that fire. It was too big for you to survive." I simply smiled at them and raised a knife high, ready to throw it.

"Shimmer, take Peece and run back to camp. Tell the others that they're on lockdown until I get back."

"If you get back." Shimmer murmured, too low for Gato to hear.

The large boy unsheathed his sword and rushed at me, determination evident in his eyes. I wasn't going to give him that satisfaction, of course. Humiliation was always something I was good at dishing out. So, I removed another knife from my artillery and used both to stop the sword swinging at my head. Holding it in place with one knife, I used the other to slash a cut along Gato's left breast.

He backed u a step and put a hand over the cut. "You're gonna get it now." he growled, removing a second sword. I smiled, twirled my knives up into the air and caught both of them, using one of them to beckon him forward. Gato took in a deep breath and roared, rushing at me.

I won't bore you with the details of the fight, but suffice to say that if he hadn't sliced into my right side, he would have been dead. As it is, I'm quite sure it took him quite some time before he made it back to the camp. It took me longer to make it back because I had to find some leaves that could patch the wound for me. Chewing on some healing leaves that I remember the appearance of but not the name, I managed to make a salvage that was used nicely as a soothing herb.

Swinging back to the camp, I found Peece tending to Gato's wounds as Shimmer and Shiner stayed huddled in the middle of camp and Boulder and Shake were patrolling the perimeter of the clearing, watching for signs of danger. I chuckled at this weak attempt at safety.

"Are you positive she's alive, Gato?" Boulder asked after a few more moments.

"Of course I'm sure. How do you think I got these?" Gato snarled.

Boulder shrugged. "The woods." I raised an eyebrow at that and shook my head.

"Shimmer?" Shiner asked. "Is she going to come after me?"

"Why would you think that, Shiner?" Shimmer inquired tenderly.

"B-because I'm the reason Peece shot her with an arrow. She might want revenge on me…"

Shimmer shushed her and stroked her hair. "Don't worry, Shiner. We won't let her get to you. I promise."

I grinned maniacally. Jumping into the air, I heard gasps from below as I did a flip and landed on my feet. "That's not a promise you should be making, Shimmer." My voice was a little hoarse from my fight with Gato, but Shimmer still stood shakily and withdrew a knife.

"S-stay away from her." She stuttered, gulping.

I laughed lowly and took out a knife of my own, jumping forward. Shimmer screamed in fear as I slashed at her face. Dropping the knife, she picked Shiner up and ran off into the trees. I grinned and turned to catch a spear thrown at my back. I threw it back at Shake and watched it catch him in the arm before I jumped back into the cover of the trees. I turned to see Shake pulling the spear out of his arm with a pained expression. I snickered and stole around the trees, stopping just behind Peece's tent.

"Shake!" Peece called. "Can you make it over this way?"

"Yeah." Shake walked over to where Peece was finishing with Gato.

"Alright, Gato, move over to make room for Shake." Gato stood and walked to a different tent as Peece began patching up Shake's arm.

"I think we should stop trying to kill her." Peece sighed. "She's wearing down our medical bag and she just keeps coming back no matter what we do with her. She survived a fire, an arrow, she can catch spears, she always lands on her feet, she can fight, she can swim… she's invincible!"

"No, there's a way to kill everything." Shake grunted. "Everything can be killed. You just have to find it's weakest piece."

Peece nodded thoughtfully as she bit off the last of the bandage and secured it in place. "There you go, Shake. Try not to strain it, alright?" Shake nodded and tromped away. Peece sighed and turned toward her tent, looking for me in the trees. I smiled and climbed up, using some string from my pack (which was, remarkably, still intact), I lowered myself upside down to talk to her.

"Are you alright?" she asked softly, touching my face.

"I'm great." I replied, smiling cattishly at her.

"Good. Are you sure you don't want bandages for those wounds?"

"Nope. You're going to need them in the coming days because I'm going to be showing up a lot."

"Why are you doing this, Kaos?" Peece asked.

"Because they tried to kill me and I don't take too kindly to that."

"But I tried to kill you too." Peece objected.

"No you didn't." I replied, cocking my head to the side.

"Yes I did." Peece said in a small voice. "That first day, near the Cornucopia. I tried to kill you for killing Bull."

"Was he the one that you're in love with?" I asked, looking down at the ground.

"No, the one I love is still very much alive. Very banged up, but still alive."

My eyes snapped up to her face as realization took me. _It **is** Gato! Why that prince of thieves!_ I cleared my throat and said, "Well, I had better get settled into a tree so that I can prepare to wreak more havoc tomorrow."

Peece nodded and walked forward to give me an upside down hug. "Goodnight Kaos."


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter Twenty**

The next morning, I could tell that all of the Careers save Peece were on edge. I'm guessing nothing they believed to be dead ever came back to them. Glad I'm not nothing. I sat up in my tree overlooking the camp speculatively and wondering why Gato hasn't moved them.

_Probably because he knows you'll find them._ Mariposa suggested.

"You're probably right. Might as well sit back and wait for me to come kick their tails again than waste energy moving about."

_Shall we go down and commence the tail-kicking?_

"Not yet. I want to see if they have any plans." I put my chin on my hands and watched as Gato called a group meeting.

"Alright, we need a plan." he began. "She could come jumping down here at any moment so we need to be on constant alert. We need two people patrolling at once so that she can't get past our defenses. Any volunteers for first shift with me?" No one spoke for a moment and they all looked around uneasily.

Shake shrugged and said, "I'll do it. I'm not afraid of the little demon." I gave a dry chuckle at that and continued watching.

"Next thing is the question of how we're going to get food."

"Maybe Shimmer and I-."

Gato interrupted Peece instantly. "No because we need you to tend to anyone that gets hurt. Shimmer and Shiner can group up for it while you and Boulder stay behind and rest up. Boulder will be taking the next shift with me. Is everyone clear with that plan?"

They all nodded and dispersed. Gato and Shake began moving around the perimeter of the camp. I shook my head at how ridiculous this all was and hopped down to crawl into Peece's tent. She turned to me with a small smile. "I thought they were guarding the perimeter?" she asked.

"Have you seen Gato and Shake?" I asked. "They're both beaten up. They shouldn't be trying to protect **anything**. But, since they're both macho, big and buff, they think it's their duty to protect the rest of you until it's time to kill you." Peece sighed and I moved closer.

"Either way, there's no way they can defeat you so I don't understand why they try."

"Shake said that everything had a weakness." I murmured. "I don't consciously have one. The only time anyone can sneak up on me is when I'm sleep and ask Boulder how hard that was. I heard every word they said because they'd woken me up."

"Ah well, at least we don't know your weaknesses." She laid her head on my shoulder for a moment before sighing again.

"Can you meet me in our clearing? I have something to tell you, but there's something I need to do first."

"Sure, I'll be waiting."

I stuck my head out the back entrance of the tent and stole back into the trees, heading leisurely toward the clearing Peece and I had met up more than once. Sitting on the ground, I closed my eyes and took in deep breaths as I waited for Peece. Moments later, I heard rustling in the woods and, as a habit, I unsheathed my sword and held it at the ready. Peece came out of the wood, unarmed, and moved slowly toward me.

"K-Kaos?" she asked softly. "You know how you keep trying to guess who I'm in love with? The person from another District?"

"Yeah?" I responded with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, I think I'll tell you now." Peece moved closer to me and took my hands in hers. "Kaos, it's you. I love you."

Everything froze for me. I couldn't breathe, couldn't speak, all I was able to do was blink at her in utter confusion. "It's… me?" I asked stupidly. "You're in love with… me?"

"Yes." Peece looked frightened of something and I couldn't for the life of me figure out what.

"Are you… are you sure?" She nodded and moved even closer.

"I love you so much, Kaos." Peece said, leaning forward slowly. I was compelled to lean forward, to kiss her passionately, to make her mine… but I couldn't because she was competition. I pulled away and stood away from her.

"I can't be with you, Peece." I told her softly, looking down at her. "We're not supposed to be together. We're on different sides."

With that, I turned away and bounded into the woods, my small pack hitting my back every now and then. I could hear Peece's soft sobs behind me and it was all I could do not to turn back and run to her, pulling her into my arms and comforting her. At one point, before I was out of hearing range, I did turn back and took a few steps toward the direction I'd left her, but I pulled myself out of it and continued running into the woods. I saw Mariposa flapping beside me and her little buggy eyes found my determined green ones.

_Did you really have to leave her like that?_ Mariposa asked gently. _You could not have expressed your love for her too?_

I stopped midstride and sighed heavily, falling to my knees. "I **_can't_** tell her I love her, Mariposa. We're on two different sides, fighting for the same cause. She's competition and everyone back home in District Twelve is counting on me to bring home food. I can't bring home food **and** show to her that I love her. That's a disaster waiting to happen and you know it."

_You don't even like being in District Twelve. No one there truly accepts you because they don't know the real you. Perhaps she can accept you?_ I snorted derisively.

"Mariposa, she's from District **_One_**. That District is just about as rich as the Capitol. Why on _earth_ would she want someone like me compared to someone like Gato. Seriously, I was way off. I thought she liked Bull and I thought she was falling for Gato, but she chose me and…"

I stopped, because then it hit me, and I mean **really** hit me. "Mariposa," I whispered. "She chose me. Out of all of the other candidates she could have chosen from, she chose me. I have to go back to her."

"Not gonna happen, girlie." I groaned as I turned to face yet another opponent.

"How long have you been standing there?" I asked irritably.

Shiner stepped out of the shadows, smiling at me triumphantly. "Long enough to know that you're in love with little miss District One. Too bad for you, she's only goading you so she can trap you and now, you've fallen for it."

I knew she was lying. Peece had no way of knowing which way I would run; Peece didn't even know I was going to run. She was too sincere to know that I wasn't going to return to her.

"Oh really?" I smirked, cocking my hip. "What's Big Bad Shiner going to do to Itty Little Kaos, huh? Are you going to toss your hair and wave until I vomit out my stomach and intestines? Cause if so, I _really_ don't have time for it. Now if you're going to torture me with the whole, slicing skin off little-by-little thing… that would be much more fun."

Shiner raised an eyebrow. "Fun? How is that fun for you? You'll be the one getting cut to pieces."

"Yes, but a girl that can cut me to pieces is quite a turn on if I do say so myself."

Shiner's face twisted in repulsion. "You're disgusting, you know that? You're not even worth my time."

I smiled and made to dodge as the knife flew, but she had thrown two and the second one didn't miss. I felt a searing pain in my chest as the world around me began fading. When I next opened my eyes, I was in a very dark place with no one around. Glancing about, I saw a light at the end of a tunnel and slowly began walking toward it. If it was heaven on the other side of the light, then I would be happy. If it was hell, I would be happy, if it was purgatory… I'd go insane.

I soon became too eager to walk and sprinted off for the light, my hand went through it and I embraced the sudden warmth it brought on. I opened my eyes for a second time and found myself staring up at trees. Sitting up, I spat some blood from my mouth and looked around.

Not wanting the Gamemakers to see that I had died, I grinned cattily and murmured, "Such a stupid girl."

Shiner had taken her knife with her, unfortunately, but I still had my pack with me, thankfully. Mariposa landed on my hand and I smiled at her.

_I thought you were dead._

I stroked her wings and decided not to answer her just yet. Standing and stretching, I dusted myself off and took up my pack, bounding into the woods in the direction I had left Peece. As I jogged, I thought more on what had happened. I had died, that was for certain. It had hurt too much not to be true. I had run toward a light and come back to life… maybe it wasn't my time to go and some God up there decided to take pity on me?

I shrugged and continued my way through the trees, not thinking on the matter any longer and deciding to just leave the experience behind me. Sniffing the air, I caught the faint scent of her mango-scented hair and followed the trail all the way back to the Careers' camp. There, I heard them all cheering for her.

"Peece, you're a genius!" Gato shouted, wrapping her in a bear hug. "How did you know she was going to run right to where Shiner was hunting?"

"I didn't." Peece murmured. "Um, but I was going to go after her until I heard her talking to Shiner, then I decided that Shiner was experienced enough to deal with her. When do you think the cannon will go off?"

"If it hasn't gone off yet, she must be fighting against death." Shimmer said.

"But I got her directly in the middle of her chest and there's no _way_ she can heal a wound like that." Shiner said, somewhat uncertainly.

"Definitely." Gato agreed. "Come on, let's celebrate. I still have a few bottles of lemonade left and we can eat some of the meat Shimmer found hanging in some trees a few miles form here."

"I don't want to go back there, Gato." Shimmer whispered.

"Why not?"

"Because there were markings. O-on the trees."

"What did they look like?"

"They were giant 'K's. I was in a place where Kaos had marked it as her territory."

"Shimmer, there's no reason to be afraid anymore. Kaos is now dead and I bet the cannon's going to go off any second now."

I grinned and climbed a tree, securing my pack to a very high branch before making the entrance that had fast become my signature. I jumped down into the middle of the clearing, brandishing a knife in each hand and baring my teeth at them all angrily.

"Y-you're **_alive_**?" Shiner screamed. "I _killed_ you. You **can't** be alive!"

I turned to her with a snarl evident on my face and she paled. "_You're_ **dead**!" I growled, jumping at her with the knives raised above my head. Shiner screamed and leaped out of the way, making me land on the dirt and spin toward her. She was looking for any escape possible, but I could tell that the other Careers were reluctant to come anywhere near her or me.

"You tried to kill me." I snarled, lunging at her and grazing her arm.

"But so did Gato." Shiner said frantically. "And Peece. And Shake on many occasions."

"You nearly succeeded." I whispered lowly. "If not for my acting skills, I'd be dead. But you… you can't _act_ dead if you _are_ dead."

Shiner turned and sprinted into the trees as I lunged at her again. I contemplated going after her and decided that it was worth a shot to get her. I bounded into the trees after her and followed her clumsy trail through the trees. Suddenly, after running through the underbrush for ten or so minutes, I heard a squeal of surprise. Moving forward, I saw that Shiner was caught in one of the traps I had set and looked around, noting that we had run into my territory. Moving closer to the panicking girl, I examined the net she was caught in and I smiled as I realized that it would be too easy just to kill her.

"Hm, poor little Shiner stuck in a tree with nowhere to run from little ol' me. What should we do with the little sprout? Oh, I know! Give her the pain she dishes out." Shiner's eyes widened as I cut away a few choice strands on the net and dumped her to the ground, tied up. "But of course since Shiner has her own thing to do, I think I'll try something new."

I really _didn't_ understand what was wrong with me. It was like my wild side had taken control of me all of a sudden… and I believe it had good reason to. Slowly, gently, taking one of Shiner's hands into my own, I used the knife to cut away at the very tip of her finger. She screamed out in pain and I smiled as I continued saw through the flesh until I hit a bone. There were a few strips of skin on the ground by this time, but it was no matter cutting through the bone. Going to the jointed area, I sliced through it and continued cutting at the flesh. Shiner's screams for mercy and whimpers of pain echoed and bounced around us as I made my way up her arm and along her shoulder. When I got to her shoulder, I slit a deep gash along her back and over to her other shoulder, where I repeated the process in a somewhat reverse, keeping the bones attached so she could feel the pain while still cutting away at the flesh.

"Feels good, doesn't it, Shiner." I purred into her ear as I cut her ring finger off completely. "Feels nice to finally know the pain you give to others."

Shiner sobbed at my words and I continued my playing. She lasted until I was slitting a deep cut along her back to her legs so that I could start there. I _tsk_ed her when she passed out. "Pity. I thought she could have lasted longer."

_Oh well. _Mariposa stated, flapping her wings a bit. _No use in letting her get away with just passing out. Go ahead and finish it, Kaos._

I nodded and raised my knife high above my head, bringing it down just as someone came out of the bushes. I looked up, my knife still firmly lodged into Shiner's heart. Shimmer stood before me, gazing in horror at what I had done. I smirked at her and moved my blade in a fine arc, slicing right through Shiner's head, sealing her fate. Shimmer was shaking all over as she turned and headed back to the camp. I took to the trees as we moved quickly through the wood.

Shimmer burst through the bushes, sobbing her eyes out. "Gato!" she screamed. "Gato, she killed Shiner!"

Gato pulled Shimmer in for a hug and shushed her gently. "We knew it would happen, Shimmer. What did you expect?"

"I **expected** her to just stab Shiner and get it over with. I **didn't** expect her to cut away at Shiner's skin and then stab her heart and slice her head in half. That's usually Shiner's thing!" Gato sighed and nodded, leading Shimmer to a tent, most likely to lie her down for sleep.

"That girl is a _real_ demon." Shake said softly, his face going pale at what he'd heard from Shimmer.

"How do you get rid of a demon?" Boulder gulped, looking around anxiously.

Shake shook his head and only offered forth two, not-so-comforting words: "You can't."


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter Twenty-One**

I decided to sleep in the next day. I'd already killed one of them, there was no use in scaring the others any further right afterward. Snoozing in the sun, I let a smile filter across my face as I awoke. It was about noon by this time so I knew the Careers were all awake. Looking down into the camp, I saw all of them together, backs against each other as they tried to stay awake. They were all dozing against each other, though.

"They must have stayed up all night keeping a lookout for me just in case I came back." I snickered.

Right now, I could have walked into the camp and looted the place and the Careers wouldn't notice… well, Peece might, but she wouldn't give it away. I simply shrugged and was about to snuggled back down into my tree when I saw a sudden movement. Boulder had shot up. His movement hadn't jostled the others, too fast was it for them to feel. I watched him carefully as he pulled a blade from his shirt and stood in front of Gato. I knew he was about to kill Gato, but I didn't think he would do it while the others were only inches away.

But here he was, about to figuratively stab his leader in the back. I looked on in shock as Boulder got ready to plunge the knife through Gato's chest. Suddenly, there's a flash of movement and a dull _thunk_. Staring, wide-eyed, I watched as Boulder fell forward, the knife falling from his limp hand. There was an arrow buried deep in his back. I glanced at Peece to see her settling back down against Shimmer and shook my head with a chuckle.

"I'll admit, the girl's pretty fast."

* * *

><p>I watched the Careers for awhile longer before deciding that I might as well test the theory I had earlier. They all looked to be asleep… with the exception of Boulder, who was dead. Climbing stealthily out of the tree, I tiptoed to the edge of the camp and eyed the Careers slowly. Stepping into the afternoon sunlight, I moved over to Boulder's body and easily took the knife from his hands. Then I leaned against a tree and just watched them from close up. At last, I heard the cannon go off and all of them jumped up.<p>

"Wonder who died." Shimmer yawned.

"Boulder did." Gato said dully, looking at the boy in front of him.

"Yeah, I killed him." Peece said nonchalantly.

"What?" Shake shouted. "Why?"

"Because he was going to kill Gato and so far, Gato leading us is about the only thing we know."

I chuckled lowly and they all turned to me. Immediately, they all went on guard and aimed their weapons at me, even Peece. I simply began twirling the knife in my hands and shrugged. "Hey, least I didn't do it. Would have been uglier than an arrow in the back."

Shimmer was trying to conceal the fact that she was trembling and she was slowly inching behind Gato every passing second.

"How did you get into camp?" Gato growled, brandishing his sword alertly.

"You all were asleep and you looked kind of interesting. Much more relaxed."

Gato simply continued glaring at me before shouting, "Peece!"

Peece seemed to know exactly what he wanted because she shot an arrow at my right side, away from my still injured side. I grinned and decided to show off just a bit more. Reaching out, I closed my hand easily around the oncoming arrow. Eight eyes widened in fear as I tossed the arrow to Peece's feet.

"You can catch arrows?" Peece said hoarsely, staring at me with wide eyes.

I shrugged. "I've learned quite a lot in my fifteen years."

Gato snarled under his breath and I'm sure he was about to charge me like an idiot. Before he could, I waved and jumped back into the brush. I chuckled at him and gave Peece a wink before turning and going into the woods, heading for my territory. It was nice to be among the marked trees again. As I went around checking my traps for any meat, I heard someone grunting somewhere above my head. Looking up, I saw Grudge caught in one of my nets and struggling to get out.

"Hiya Grudge." I called. "How long you been up there?"

"Hour." He grunted at me.

"Kay. Let me get you down." He nodded and I threw one of my Japanese throwing stars up at the line. As Grudge fell, I moved forward and caught him easily, letting him down on his feet.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

"Fine." He replied, brushing himself off. "Thank you for saving me."

I nodded and gave him one of the rabbits in my hand. "Here, take this. Maybe you should go off into those wheat patches behind the Cornucopia."

Grudge nodded and opened his mouth to say something else. Suddenly, I heard another _whoosh_ and dread filled my stomach as Grudge's eyes widened. We both looked down simultaneously and saw a spearhead sticking through his stomach. Grudge fell forward onto me and I knelt down as he began coughing up blood.

"No, no, no, no!" I slowly stroked his hair out of his face and looked at him pleadingly. "Please Grudge, stay strong until I can get it out, ok?"

"Kaos," he murmured. "Kaos, you win. You have to."

I stared in shock as Grudge closed his eyes and his last breath left him. I held his head for a moment before laying a kiss to it and letting it fall. I heard a snicker nearby and looked up to see Shake not too far away. I couldn't help it; I got angry. It wasn't my normal anger. No, this was much more palpable, much stronger. I felt it course through my entire body, burning my veins as it pumped in my blood. Then… I let it go.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter Twenty-Two**

I could feel the power racing through me, filling me, overflowing me. I felt my bones shifting as something soft, but thick poked through my skin. I felt my teeth sharpening painfully, making my mouth feel like it was on fire as my nails thickened and sharpened. I could feel my clothing being ripped away from me and it vaguely registered in my head that I would have to travel mostly naked from now on. My ears slid up my head as their already pointy tips sharpened further and my mouth lengthened somewhat to accommodate my large teeth. Finally, my last edition swung behind me menacingly.

I glared at Shake as he trembled in his boots, backing away from me hurriedly, stumbling over rocks and sticks, slipping in the moss in his haste to get away. A growl ripped its way up my throat and through my fangs as I began stalking forward. Shake didn't bother screaming as he turned and began racing through the trees. I roared as I chased him, my paws pounding on the soft earth, my claws digging in ever so slightly every time they touched down. It felt good, the wind whistling through my fur, making my tail wave behind me, exhilarating me with its purity. I could have done this all day if it weren't for the target only a few feet in front of me now.

Shake was huffing as he tried to make his legs move faster, trying to evade me as I gained on him. When I was within five yards of him, I coiled my body and launched myself across the distance, landing just behind him, my claws digging into his back. Shake finally decided to scream, trying to call out to the other Careers for help. I lifted a large paw and brought it down on his chest, cracking a few of his ribs as I did so. I didn't want to use my claws just yet; I wanted to make him feel the pain before giving him the next step. I put all of my weight on his left arm, feeling the bones shattering beneath me as Shake's screams filled my ears.

I gave him a very catty grin as I leaned down to purr, "Hurts doesn't it? Too bad that spear couldn't have come back to you, huh? Too bad you couldn't have been killed by the flood or a fire or maybe by another tribute. Now, you're going to go at the paws of something that's not animal, but not human either. Sucks to be you."

And with that, I jumped into the air and brought all of my weight down on his chest cavity, sealing his fate right then. Shake gave one last gurgle-y scream before his eyes rolled and blood dribbled from his mouth, signaling that he was finished. I raised my head and roared in triumph before slowly letting the calm take me over again.

As I shifted back into my human form, I heard someone breathing nearby and turned quickly to see Peece staring at me, petrified. My eyes softened as I surveyed her and I slowly took a step forward. Peece's eyes widened further and she turned tail to run, hurrying back to the other Careers. I felt a stab in my chest and whirled around, thinking someone had snuck up on me, but there was no one there. I turned all around in confusion as the pain worsened, but there was nothing or no one there.

Then it hit me: she'd run. Peece had shown true fear of me since the moment we met. All those other times were just surprised fear or acted fear, not the real thing. But now, Peece was genuinely terrified of me. Until now, I didn't realize how much I had grown used to talking to her in secret at night when none of the Careers were watching. I had liked seeing her smile every time I came around and the calm demeanor she continuously displayed while the other Careers were always frightened. Now, would I still have that? Would she be too afraid of me now that she knew my secret?

Mariposa fluttered onto my shoulder as I sank to my knees and began sobbing. _Kaos, you have to follow her!_

"Why?" I shouted. "She probably hates me now! Despises me! Sees me as nothing more than an animal that's not worth her love. I _love_ her Mariposa and she _ran_ from who I am!"

_But it's not **your** fault that this is who you are._

I paused in my tears and glanced at her slowly. "You're right." I snarled. "It's _not_ my fault I'm like this. It's the **Capitol's** fault I'm such a monster. _They're_ the ones who need to pay." I stood and bared my teeth, knowing every camera was on me at the moment. "_They_ have to pay. And soon, they will."

I turned in the direction Peece had taken. "But first, Peece."

Moving stealthily through the trees, not even bothering to cover my nudity up, I made it back to the Career camp within minutes. Now, all of Panem except the other Careers knew what I was so there was no reason to act human. I stood at the edge of the clearing as Shimmer tried to calm down a hysterical Peece.

"Peece please! Stop crying so you can tell me what's going on."

Peece continued crying as she tried to explain what had happened, but Shimmer still couldn't understand her and so, the blonde shook her. "Shut up with the blubbering and tell me what happened!"

"Kaos is an **animal**!" Peece shrieked, sobbing harder.

"What?" Shimmer asked; I wasn't going to blame her blonde side for this, she had a right to be confused.

"K-Kaos t-turned into some weird **cat** thing and crushed Shake with her p-paws." Peece sniffled, calming down now.

"She can change into a creature?" Shimmer continued; now I'll hold it against her blondeness.

"Y-yes. Tell Gato. We have to move before she comes back. I don't even _want_ to imagine what she's doing to Shake's body right now. Probably **eating** it."

I felt hurt at this. I've only eaten one person and that's because he was drunk and tried to shoot me. Yes, that's right, I killed Haymitch. I was out hunting rabbits and other rodents one afternoon and he came out of the trees drunk and staggering. I guess he thought I was big game or something cause in the next second he had the shotgun to his eye and he'd tried shooting. Luckily, he was drunk, so he missed by two feet, but it still made me angry at how stupid he was. I looked over to where Peece was explaining to Gato what had happened and the buff boy nodded.

"Alright, let's get out of here before she comes back."

"If you see a flash of really pale skin, just stab at it." Shimmer said.

"Why?" Gato inquired.

"Because Peece told me that Kaos ripped all of her clothes when she changed, so there's barely a possibility that she's still clothed."

"Unless she took the clothing from Shake." Peece pointed out.

My eyes widened in shock and then I had to resist face-palming myself because she was right. I could have taken Shake's clothing. And there was the cannon, signaling that he was dead. I sighed and began pulling leaves toward me before deciding that it would be a wasted energy. I watched as the remaining three Careers began quickly packing up anything that they really needed to bring with them. I sighed and decided to just follow them.

As they began getting ready to head out, I also began lightening my weight. I got rid of the night-vision goggles immediately, putting them off to the side. I added the umbrella and the matches to the pile, knowing I wouldn't use either. After a moment of thought, I put in the flashlight, the bottle of antibiotic, the bandages and the woolen blanket. In the other pile, I put in my hoodie and my string. Then, I finished off my dried fruits and the rest of the meat, before downing the rest of the water bottle. I put the two bottles into a third pile to be left there.

Then, I snuck to Peece's tent and used some of her string to tie the supplies together and left it in the middle of the tent floor. I thought about sticking around to greet her, but decided against it, thinking she would probably shoot me as soon as she saw me. So, I stole back to my pack and loaded my weaponry back into my pack before hitching it up on my shoulders.

Peece had just finished helping Shimmer with her tent and was heading back to her own. I climbed a tree and watched her go in, wondering what her reaction would be. I waited anxiously, but when Peece exited the tent, she only had a look of alert determination on her face. I glanced at the sky and saw clouds beginning to form and wondered how long Gato would have them walking. It began sprinkling as Peece joined the other two for the walk.

"Come on," Gato commanded. "Kaos could be anywhere, so tread carefully. We need to make it across the river."

I slipped my hoodie on and began my way from tree to tree, following them as they trudged through the trees. The rain began coming down extra hard and I could tell that they were all getting tired. When they made it to the river, all four of us gasped to see how engorged it was; we hadn't thought it would fill so much. I knew one of them wouldn't be able to make it across, so I hooked my pack on the branch above where I was and got ready to jump into the river, just in case. I wouldn't save Shimmer or Gato, but I wasn't going to let Peece drown.

The river was rising fast and the rain was making it hard to see anything, but I kept a close eye on Peece as she began crossing the river with Gato and Shimmer. Suddenly, Shimmer slipped and she grabbed Peece as a brace. Peece lost her footing and went under the current, being swept under the water.

"Peece!" Shimmer shouted, reaching out to her as she arrived on the other side.

I removed my hoodie and jumped into the river; with how hard the rain was coming down, there was no way Gato and Shimmer would have seen me go in. Keeping my eyes open in the icy water, I saw Peece rushing down the river and kicked out, pushing against the current and swimming after her. Catching up in no time, I grabbed her arm and fought against the current, slowly, but steadily making it through the water until I finally made it to the surface and brought Peece up too. I carried her to land on the side of the river where we'd started out and began looking for a place to keep her safe.

I walked for miles, completely naked, with Peece on my back before I slipped on something. I landed hard with Peece on top of me and I had to work to get up. Looking around, I saw a small cavern in some rocks a few yards away. Picking Peece back up, I carried her into the cavern and laid her down. Reaching into her pack, I found the bundle of supplies I had given her and felt something warm in my chest. Removing the blanket, I found it nearly completely dry and removed Peece's wet clothes before wrapping her in the blanket, wrapping her in the other one in there as well. I wrapped my arms around myself and tried to figure out whether it would be wise to go back out for my pack and hoodie. I shook my head in distaste and wondered where Mariposa was.

_I'm here, Kaos._ I looked around in wonder and saw Mariposa fluttering near the ceiling.

"How did you survive through the rain?" I asked softly.

_I was genetically changed by the Capitol._ Mariposa reminded me, landing gracefully on m shoulder.

I chuckled and stroked her back as I looked down at Peece. "She's safe again, Mariposa."

_What now, Kaos?_

"Fall asleep." I replied with a shrug.

_But what if she kills you?_

"I'll just find her again and congratulate her on taking the easy way out. Plus, it would confirm Shiner's theory of her loving me. But I need to sleep after such a rough swim in such cold weather."

_Ok, Kaos. I'll have your back._

"Thanks Mariposa." I yawned, flopping onto the cold stone beneath me and drifting to sleep.


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter Twenty-Three**

I awoke before Peece did. I sat up against the stone wall of the cavern and yawned, stretching myself out as I listened for any activity from the outside world. The rain seemed to have stopped, so I knew it was safe to go back and get my pack. I stole a glance at Peece before heading out to the river. It was vastly overflowing, scattered with debris and other forestry.

I climbed a tree and looked around, spotting my pack a tree or two away. I jumped over to it and found that both it and my hoodie were close to dry. I slipped the hoodie into my pack and returned to the cavern. Peece was just stirring as I entered and she looked up fearfully as I threw the pack across the cave. I sat down across from the brunette and crossed my legs, leaning against the wall and studying her closely. She held the blankets around her bashfully and I smiled at her show of shyness.

"W-why am I n-naked?" Peece asked slowly.

"Because the clothes you were in would have given you hypothermia." I replied easily, motioning to the sopping wet clothes piled against the wall next to her.

"W-what do y-you want w-with me?"

I shrugged, not sure how to answer the question. "I love you so I want you to be mine, but if you hate me then I want you to go away so you feel safer."

Peece glanced down at the stone ground beneath us. "Why would you think I h-hated you?"

"You ran." I said, raising her chin so I could see her eyes. "You were near panic-stricken when I turned to you in the woods. You told Shimmer and Gato that I was an animal, that you didn't want to think about me."

Peece gulped and held my gaze. "I don't hate you." She murmured softly, staring into my eyes. "I love you."

I smiled and nodded, letting her chin go. "I'm going out hunting for a little bit, want anything in particular?"

"What's out there?" Peece asked.

I sniffed the wind coming to me and replied, "Rabbit, vole, field mouse, a moose or two, maybe some yummy bluebirds if I feel like climbing a tree." Peece looked at me in shock and I shrugged. "All of Panem knows my biggest secret, why bother hiding it anymore?"

Peece nodded and I stood there, waiting for her answer. "What?" she asked slowly.

"Anything special?"

"No," Peece shook her head. "A regular rabbit will do just fine."

I nodded and headed out. 'Ready Mariposa?" I inquired.

_Ready Kaos._

I smiled and took to the trees, moving freely for the first time in years. Jumping through the trees and swinging from branch to branch, I felt the wind in my hair and laughed as I saw a rabbit hopping down below. In one swift movement, I jumped into the air, did a flip and came down with the rabbit in my hands, my nails digging into it as it squeaked and bled. I held the rabbit to the ground and raised my hand high, bringing it down hard on the rodent's skull. I surveyed my work and noticed that it was exceptionally sloppy.

"Huh, I'm out of practice. Should have brought a blade."

I decided that this rabbit would be mine and I would strangle the next one for Peece. Catching two more rabbits in quick succession, I headed back to Peece and smiled as I entered the cavern. "Hungry?"

She looked up, startled and stood. "Y-yeah, let me help you get a fire set up."

My eyes widened to the size of the throwing stars. The blankets had fallen away from Peece's body as she stood and my breath caught at the beautiful landscape before me. Peece blushed as she realized what I was staring at and I moved closer.

"Beautiful." I murmured, feeling something roaring inside me, something hungry for contact, hungry for love, hungry… for Peece. Peece looked up at me and her eyes roamed my body, darkening as lust overtook her. I pulled her close to me and moaned at the heat she radiated from being underneath the blanket so long.

"Goddess Peece!" I whimpered.

"K-Kaos!" Peece moaned, pulling me closer for more contact. Her mouth was level with my throat and she took advantage of this, licking and sucking at the soft skin hungrily. I gasped as my eyes rolled and I knew I wouldn't be able to last much longer.

"P-Peece, are you… are you pure?" She looked up at me from where she was tugging at my skin and her eyes told the answer. The frightened, but determined look in them told me that she was, in fact, a virgin, but that she wanted to have me as her first.

"And you, Kaos? Have you had sex before?"

"N-not willingly, no." I groaned, my head rolling to the side to give her more access to my throat.

All thoughts of food flew from my head as Peece's mouth worked at my throat. I growled as the roaring inside of me began growing, wanting me to take Peece, to take her as mine, claim the shy girl from District One—

My eyes flew open and I stepped back, untangling my arms from Peece's waist as I backed away. Turns out, I back away too far because I cracked my head on the stone above the door and sank to my knees with a groan.

"Kaos?" Peece asked, kneeling beside me. "Are you alright? Did I do something wrong?"

"No, but I was about to." I slowly stood and tested my equilibrium.

I turned to Peece as she stood as well and sighed heavily. "I'm sorry Peece. Truly, I am. But I **_can't_** love you. I _have_ to get over it because when it comes down to it, you're going to have to die in order for me to stay alive. Or else, I'm going to have to become a loner in order for you to win, because I don't think I can kill you, but I shouldn't love you even though I do."

"B-but Kaos-."

"No Peece, it can't work."

Tears welled in the beautiful blue eyes I loved so much and it nearly pushed me to the brink of insanity to see Peece fall to her knees and begin bawling. I stood awkwardly before her as she cried before it became too much and I had to run. I had to run away from the tears and the sorrow and the love that was almost tangible in the air, the lust that still hung between us, the dread of knowing that I would have to live without Peece some day. I couldn't take it and so I ran. When I couldn't run anymore I had made it all the way back to my own territory. I looked around me and sighed in sadness, dropping to my own knees and letting a few tears drip down my face.

Suddenly, Caesar Flickerman's face appeared in the sky and I looked up at him quizzically. "Hello tributes! There has been a slight rule change for the Games this year. Just like fifteen years prior, two tributes are allowed to live rather than just one. Happy hunting."

My eyes widened in wonder at this new concept. _I didn't have to kill Peece?_

A grin spread across my lips and I instantly jumped up and began running back to Peece, the tiredness from my earlier run pushed away by the jubilance coursing through me. I burst out of the bushes and into the clearing where the cavern was to see Peece waiting for me, still completely naked and holding a spitted rabbit in each hand.

"I assumed you wanted the one with the cracked skull." She said shyly, looking up at me through her eyelashes. I beamed at her and bounded to her, scooping her into my arms and pressing her to me tightly.

"We can live." I murmured happily. "Both of us."

* * *

><p>I helped Peece set up a fire and we both ate ravenously, enjoying the meat and our new semi-freedom. When we had finished, we kicked dirt onto the embers of the fire and walked back into the cavern. It was about noon when I had woken up, so it was around late afternoon, early evening now. Peece snuggled under the blanket for a little bit, watching me as I sat and stared at the wall, deep in thought.<p>

_I don't have to kill Peece, Mariposa. I can have her AND win food for my District. I might get a happy ending after all and the plan may not have to come to fruition._

_But Kaos, nothing good ever happens in this country anymore, remember? Something bad is bound to happen._

_Well then, maybe I should seize the moment, right? I mean, I love her, she loves me, we might grow up to make a family. I have to keep her, Mariposa. I need to have Peece be mine, forever._

_Kaos, you're part cat. I thought cats took on several different mates?_

_True, but I'm also part human, remember? Meaning that I could just as easily move my brain into thinking about onl having one soulmate rather than multiple mates._

_Ok, Kaos. As long as you're happy, Darlin' It's nearing dusk and it seems the temperature is actually dropping. Would you like to get the blanket so that you and Peece can go to sleep?_

I glanced over at Peece to see her staring at the wall opposite her speculatively and I nodded to myself. Taking a breath, I pulled together all of the saucy, sexy, raciness I'd seen at school from the other girls and began crawling slowly toward Peece. It turns out that cats are naturally sensual creatures, so really all I needed to do was let that side of my mind be dominant for a moment.

"Peece?" She looked up at me and, even in the darkening cave, I saw her blue eyes darken immensely.

"Kaos?" She opened up the blanket for me and I crawled in beside her, securing the blanket around us once more. I took her face in my hands and studied her.

"Can I kiss you?" I asked softly, suddenly nervous about what to do.

"Oh Kaos, please do."

I nodded and leaned forward, too fast for her to pull away, but too slow to take her by surprise. Her lips were so… soft. They were soft, wet and oh-so-_delicious_. I moaned as I moved closer, pressing our bodies together as Peece's arms snaked around my shoulders. Our bodies molded together automatically and my hands went to her hips, my thumbs stroking the skin delicately. Peece's hot breath on my face as she kissed me over and over again. She must have wanted it even more badly than me because she kept moving closer and closer until she was right on top of me, straddling my waist as she licked my lips. I gasped in shock that she would do that and immediately, her tongue was probing my lips, working its way inside. I didn't know what would happen when her tongue made it, but I was curious to find out. Opening my mouth wider to give her access, there was the briefest moment where Peece's tongue touched mine and then… everything exploded.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter Twenty-Four**

A whirlwind of emotions swirled in my body and I pulled Peece closer as her tongue explored my mouth. I slowly touched her tongue with my own and Peece moaned, her tongue caressing mine. I felt heat coursing through me, building just below my navel. It felt like fire, burning me, but making me feel high. I flipped us over and kissed Peece deeper, pressing her back flat into the blanketed ground as my hands moved up her sides and caressed the side of her breasts.

"K-Kaos, please. Please touch me. I-I need you to take me, claim me as yours."

I nodded and moved lower, kissing down her neck and down to a soft mound. Slowly, I weighed it in my hand before looking up at Peece for permission. The lovely brunette below me nodded and arched her back into my hand. I leaned down and slowly sucked the peak into my mouth. The taste exploded in my mouth and I moaned, sucking more into my mouth and licking at it. Peece held my head to her chest, moaning and whimpering above me as I moved to the other peak too. It tasted so good; salty but very sweet at the same time.

"Oh please Kaos. Oh _yes_." I growled as I licked between them, licking at the small amount of sweat that had already begun to cover Peece's body.

"K-Kaos, **mm** please. I need **ohhh** I need you to **ooh** to t-touch me." I raised my head and placed a heated kiss to her lips, our tongues hugging as we both moaned and gasped.

"What do you want me to do to you Peece?" I whispered in her ear, tugging at the lobe with my teeth.

"A-anything Kaos. Please, **ungh** anything. I'm so hot **angh**. I need you to soothe it. It aches for you."

I nodded and slowly placed kisses to her throat as my hand slid down her body, to rest between her legs. "Spread your legs for me, Darlin'." I cooed to her gently.

Peece nodded, opening her legs wider and whimpering as my hand slid further down. Slowly I used my ring and first fingers to spread her lower lips as my middle finger slowly stroked her. My eyes widened at how much wetness was on my finger, it was nearly dripping and I pulled back to look at Peece with a smirk. "You've never been touched?" I inquired. "Even by yourself?"

"N-no." Peece panted, staring into my eyes pleadingly. "Please Kaos, it **_burns!_**"

I nodded and slowly probed at her entrance, determining how far in her membrane was. I poked a barrier and Peece gave a soft whimper of pain. "If you want to stop-."

"No!" Peece said loudly, pulling my face to hers. "Do it, quick, Kaos, please?"

I nodded and deepened the kiss, pushing past the barrier easily and burying my middle finger into her moist cavern. Peece cried out against my lips and her body jerked away. I pulled back and looked down at her fearfully. "Are you alright?"

Peece leaned up and pressed a soft kiss to my lips. "I'm fine. Please keep going."

I nodded and slowly began moving my hand, pulling my finger out and then pushing it in. Peece winced slightly at first, but then when the initial pain had worn off, Peece went back to moaning as her body slowly moved against my hand.

"F-faster!" Peece panted, her lips finding my throat as I held onto her. "F-faster, Kaos! **Ohh** Please, I **angh** I feel like I'm going to **ooohhh!**"

I could feel Peece's cavern walls pressing in on my fingers and I knew that she was getting closer to her edge. Her moans were increasing in volume and her breath was coming faster and lighter. "K-Kaos, I need **haghn** I need **oohgn** What do I need?"

I chuckled and thought a moment. "I think I know what to do."

I kissed my way down her body and slowly peeled her lower lips open further. The aroma that wafted to me was near heavenly and my mouth began to water. I probed at the flesh with the tip of my tongue and moaned at the taste, digging my tongue further. Peece's breath caught for a moment before a very deep, very guttural moan tore through her lips and her hips bucked against my mouth. I moaned and dug my tongue further in, licking and sucking at the flesh, drinking in the wetness as I restarted my thrusting fingers.

"Oh Kaos!" Peece's fingers tangled in my hair as I grew faster and I knew she was nearly there. "Don't stop. **Ohh!** Don't stop!" On impulse, I sucked at a small nubbin near the front of her folds and Peece gasped. "Ohhhhh KAAAAOOOSSS!"

A splash of warmth washed over my face as Peece began shaking and moaning, writhing and near screaming as I slowed my thrusts. When she had finally calmed down, I pulled my finger all the way out and looked at the liquid that covered my hand. Sniffing it experimentally, I shrugged and licked at it. The smell combined with the feel of it dripping down my arm and the taste made my head fuzzy and I smiled, leaning back down and licking Peece clean. I climbed up her body gently and placed a soft kiss to her forehead.

"How did it feel?" I asked softly, gathering her into my arms.

"It felt… wonderful." Peece murmured, snuggling into me.

"I'm glad." I chuckled.

"Well, I know something that can make it better."

I looked down at her. "Oh?" I raised an eyebrow. "And what's that?"

Peece smiled and rolled on top of me. "Your turn."

I gasped as her lips found my throat. "P-Peece."

"Mm yes?" she giggled, sucking experimentally at the soft skin.

"Oh that feels _good_."

Peece chuckled and nipped at the same spot, biting down a little harder than normal before sucking again. I knew there would be a mark left behind and it exhilarated me to know that she had marked me as hers. As Peece made her way down my body to my chest, she made sure that she didn't touch any sensitive areas where there was a burn or a scar. Her lips closed around my pert nipple and I groaned at the warmth and wetness touching my sensitive peak. On its own accord, my hand shot up and held her to my chest as my back arched. The flames continued racing to my private area, Peece's ministrations doing nothing to soothe them. I whimpered and purred as she went from one peak to the other, back and forth, causing my breath to hitch every time she switched.

"P-Peece, **o-ohh** Peece, please. I **oohh** I need you to **hah** to **mmm** to touch me!"

I felt Peece smile against my skin and her hand slowly crawled down my body, stopping to play with my bellybutton for a second before circling the invisible triangle on my pelvis. "Spread your legs, Kitty."

My eyes widened at the new pet name and I opened my legs for her fingers, mechanical reactions telling me what to do. My breath was becoming erratic because my mind was moving between the past and the present so fast that I couldn't tell which one was which.

"Mm, you sound ready for me. Pant harder and I might speed up." My eyes widened further and my breath stopped as Peece's finger moved through my wetness, caressing me and unaware of my reaction.

"Ooh, sweet Kitty, so ready for me." She slowly tested out my entrance and her expression went blank. In one swift movement, she was off of me, which was good because I don't think I could have controlled my instincts much longer.

"You lied to me!" she snarled, moving away from me and to the other side of the cave.

"No I haven't." I murmured, looking at her in confusion and trying to diminish the sudden memories. "Everything I've told you has thus far been true. Everything."

"You told me you'd never had sex before."

"No, I said-."

"Don't try to lie to me, Kaos!"

"I'm not, I-."

"Stop denying it. You just USED me! I'm nothing but a toy to you!"

"No, actually-."

"Why do you keep playing with my heart? You animal!"

I had opened my mouth to try and tell her the truth again, but when she said that last part, I stopped and shut my mouth. My eyes hardened and I glared at her angrily. "I'm the animal?" I whispered. "Fine Peece. Fine. I'm going out. In the morning, I'll hunt down Gato and Shimmer for you so that you can rejoin them. And when the time comes, I'll kill you too."

"Kaos I-."

I shook my head and stood. "I need to go."

"Kaos please!"

I simply ignored her and ducked out of the cavern, moving off into the trees. The night was clear, the moon full. I felt a little bit freer now. As I ran through the trees, I managed to disguise the fact that I was crying, blaming it on the wind rather than my own, suddenly broken, heart. I finally reached a large clearing and stood underneath the moon, staring at the trees around me. Out of the noises from nighttime forest creatures, I heard whispers of disgust, contempt, irritation and fear.

_Monster! Creature! Vile animal!_

"Stop." I whimpered, backing into the center of the clearing.

_Hideous beast! Killing machine! Malfunctioned experiment!_

"Please stop!" I said a little louder, trying to block out the voices.

_Cursed incarnation! Disgusting filth! Experimental wreck! Unlovable creature! Lowly pest! Disgraceful alien!_

"STOP!" I roared, slamming my hands into a nearby tree and making it shake so hard that several branches fell from above. I sank to my knees against the tree, my nails making small grooves through it. I looked up at the moon and sniffed, my head falling into my arms as sobs began wracking my body. The sadness filled my chest and threatened to suffocate me, pressing in on my heart and lungs, filling my ribs to bursting, pushing everything to the side as it took over. But just as suddenly as the blue had filled me, the scarlet replaced it, making me angrier and angrier.

"They knew this would happen." I snarled. "They **knew** no one would be able to love a monster like me. They chose me specifically just to ruin my life." I could already feel the shift coming on, my bones beginning to grow.

"The Capitol is probably laughing right now, reveling in the creature they created, the creature that can't find love. They think they can just take my freedom, my rights, my humanity and replace it with an animal, something near indestructible. I'll show them, I'll show them that they can't knock me down as easily as I can get up. I'll show them that I'm the worst experiment they could have thought of." I completed my shift and stood on my hindlegs for a moment before going down on all fours and smiling at every camera focused on me.

"I'll kill them all."


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter Twenty-Five**

When I returned to the cave an hour or so later, I found the cavern dark, but from the scent, Peece was still there. I slowly entered, my bulking frame almost not fitting, but I managed to squeeze into the cave and sit across from Peece. Suddenly, the brunette across from me rolled over in her sleep and whimpered shrilly.

"Please Kaos!" she murmured. "Please! Come back! I love you, don't leave me!" I cocked my head and wondered if this was some kind of trick to get me to fall for her jokes again. But Peece seemed genuinely asleep and very distraught. "Please, Kaos, please stay! I'm so sorry. Please forgive me, please?" Then, Peece froze in her sleep and I wondered what had happened.

"No," the whisper was very small and it nearly passed my ears. "No, no, no, no, no! Kaos please don't do it. Please? Please! No. Kaos I love you. I love you! No!"

Peece shot bolt upright in the blankets, panting and sweating from her bad dream. She glanced around and her eyes landed on me. The blood drained from her face, her neck and probably all of her body to relocate completely in her heart. "K-K-K-Kaos?" she stuttered, pressing herself into the wall.

I moved closer, lowering my head to eyelevel with her and staring deep into her eyes. I saw the terror, oh definitely. The horror that this was happening was also there. And deep, deep, deep inside, I saw the love that she had expressed to me more than once.

My eyes narrowed and I glared at her as I raised my head back to its normal height. "You didn't believe me." I snarled down at her. "You didn't believe that I was telling the truth. You don't love me."

"What?" Peece asked. "No! Kaos, I do love you. Honestly, I do love you."

"No." I growled. "You want me to die like the other animals in the forest. You want me gone. I'm a nuisance to you and winning so I should go."

"Please no. Don't go Kaos, please!"

I shook my head and began heading back to the exit. Suddenly, I felt a body pressed against my right hindleg and turned to see Peece holding on tightly to my leg. "Kaos, I love you so much. Please don't go. I can't lose you. It would be too much. I need you. Please don't leave."

I turned back and looked into her eyes again, seeing the feelings displayed there for me to see and there it was, the most prominent one: love. I raised my head and nodded, beginning my shift back. "I won't leave you, Peece." I sighed, pulling her into a hug.

"I'm so sorry!" she sniffed. "I know there's no excuse for my behavior even though I have one anyway."

"Let's hear it then." I said, shrugging.

"I was in shock because your membrane wasn't there, there was nothing blocking my finger from entering you. I thought… I thought you had lied to me just to get me on your side and then, when everyone else was dead, you would kill me too. I'm so sorry for thinking so low of you and I shouldn't have. You've been nothing but kind to me since we first met. I know you've been running from every declaration of love I give you, but that's because you were scared for your District. Please forgive me, Kaos. I don't want to drive you away."

I leaned down and placed a gentle kiss to her nose and nodded. "I forgive you Peece."

She smiled and connected our lips in a passionate loving kiss. "Thank you so much." She mumbled. "But, if you haven't had sex and you haven't pleasured yourself, where's your membrane?"

"Peece, I **have** had sex before." Peece's eyes darkened in hurt and she opened her mouth to tell me off again before remembering what had happened the last time and closing her mouth, tears slipping down her cheeks. "I told _you_ that I've never had sex **willingly**. That never included the whole thing."

"Willingly?" Peece inquired. "You mean you were…" I nodded. It made me sick to be going into my past again, but I had to tell her at least part of the story.

"When I was younger, there was a man that did rape me, but I got him back by shredding one side of his face off with my claws."

"Were you born as a… cat?" Peece inquired softly.

"Yes and no. Before I was born, scientists did tests on my mother and somehow changed my DNA by accident. Then, when I was born, they did experiments on me while I was a baby. I remember every single one of them, oddly enough. I wasn't even a month old when they tested me for how fast I was going to run when I was in my prime. They used needles and strange, sharp tools. It was horrible. That's why I'm so afraid of needles. I'm always afraid they might have another experiment inside of them, waiting to turn me back into the guinea pig I was before I made it to District Twelve."

Peece held onto me tighter in an attempt to make me feel better, but I had to tell her one last thing. "Peece?"

"Yes Kaos?"

"Please don't call me Kitty. That man, he called me Kitty before he did those vile things to me."

"I won't call you that anymore then. I like Kaos better anyway." I chuckled and stroked her hair for a moment. Simultaneously, we looked at each other and I felt the heat course through me again.

"Do you still want me to please you?" Peece asked, her face getting steadily closer.

"I…" I gulped and looked into her darkened blue eyes. "I do."

Peece nodded and pressed her lips to mine in a kiss as she laid me out on the blanket and straddled my waist. "No more interruptions." She growled, leaning down to replace her lips at my soft pink peaks. I moaned out and the previous conversation flew from my mind as my world once again became intoxicated. Peece was moaning too, as she tugged on my smooth mounds, she whimpered and moaned, making a sucking sound that sounded very hot. Her hand continued its journey back down my body and delved between my legs, which I opened wider for her. My stomach clenched slightly when her finger touched my wetness.

"Y-yes, Peece!" I groaned, my hips bucking of their own accord.

Peece slowly traced circles around my entrance before delving deep inside of me and burying her finger into me. I moaned loudly and bucked against her hand. As she began moving her finger easily inside of me, I felt the fire roaring around her finger, building from her finger's movements. "Please, Peece. I **ooh** I need **ungh** I need more."

She smirked at me and added a second finger to the first. This sent electricity shooting through me and my back arched. "Oh Peece, **angh!** Faster, Darlin' faster!" Peece moved her fingers into me at a quicker pace and I could feel the fire building higher and higher. The fire coming from other parts of my body.

Peece's lips kissed their way up my neck and to my ear. "Does that feel good, Kaos?" she breathed. "Do you like this?"

"**Ohhhhhh** Yes Peece! Yes, yes, yes! **Oh** Peece! **Ohh** Peece!" I continued chanting her name like a mantra as I felt something tightening in my stomach. My breath was coming shorter and faster and my eyes were unfocusing.

Finally, Peece slid down and licked quickly at my wetness before taking my nub into her mouth, sucking on it hard and then nipping it. My entire body froze, my muscles preparing for the release of energy. Then, pure BLISS as something sent me shooting to the stars. I gave a very long, low guttural moan as my eyes rolled in my head and my entire body shook, euphoria spilling over me as I fought to keep my breath.

At last, I came down from my high and smiled at Peece, who was brushing my hair out of my face. "You taste amazing." She giggled.

I chuckled easily and pulled her to me. "That was… Goddess, it was great." Peece smiled and snuggled into me, yawning slowly as I pulled the blanket over both of us.

"Get some sleep, Peece. Something tells me that tomorrow's going to be one of those days."

* * *

><p>Contrary to what I said, the next day was actually very quiet for us. "I guess some of the other tributes found each other and fought it out." I mused.<p>

"Who all is left?" Peece asked, snuggling into my side under the blanket.

"Um, there's you, me, Shimmer, Gato, the boy from District Six and the girl from District Eight."

"Six of us left out of the original twenty-four. Three-fourths down." Peece murmured.

"One-sixth to go." I added, moving closer.

"Kaos, can we… can we do it again?"

I chuckled as I looked down at Peece's pleading pouting expression. "That good?" I asked slowly.

"Oh, much better than you can imagine."

I cocked my head to the side for a moment before shrugging and nodding, moving so that I was straddling her and my arms supported me so I didn't crush her. "Who knows how long the Gamemakers will leave us alone." I shrugged, slowly leaning down toward her lips. "Might as well have all the fun we can until they ruin the party."

Peece grinned up at me and moaned as our lips connected once more. Hours later, entwined and spent, I stroked Peece's hair as she dozed off. She had a slight smile on her face as she snoozed and I grinned internally that I had put it there. Just then, I heard Caesar Flickerman's voice boom out of the sky. "Hello remaining six tributes!" I slowly removed myself from Peece and crept out of our little cavern, looking up into the sky at the Games Show Host. "I am here to inform you that a feast is being held for those of you who may need something special. Grab the bag with your number on it and you'll find something special inside." I looked up and yawned, wondering what the use would be to go to the feast other than to watch the needy tributes beat the mud out of each other. "Come to the Cornucopia tomorrow evening at sundown to receive your prizes. Have a good night."

I leaned against the stone and stared up at the stars contemplatively. _Would it really be worth leaving Peece all alone just to go hunt some of the other tributes or even just watch them beat the mess out of each other? _I glanced back at my sleeping lover and cocked my head._ Well, I'm certainly not taking her with me so that she can be taken by one of the more desperate tributes. I'm a good hunter, so we'll have food... but it would be so nice to just see Gato in action again. It couldn't hurt to try... _Withthat, I nodded and slipped back into the cavern, deciding to put a large rock at the entrance so that we were secure from outside eyes (as if). Snuggling into Peece, I felt Mariposa float down next to me and looked at her.

_B__ig things to see tomorrow? _she asked softly.

_I hope so, Mariposa. _I replied._ Or I will be sorely disappointed._


	26. Chapter 26

**_Chapter Twenty-Six_**

I awoke the next morning with a wide yawn and cracking my various joints, getting ready for the feast later that day. "Mm, Kaos?" I glanced down and saw Peece looking up at me with sleepy eyes and I smiled at her, leaning down to give my blue-eyed beauty a 'good morning' peck.

"Hello, Darlin'." I murmured, stroking her hair.

Peece moaned softly and sat up slightly. "Why are you up so early?"

"There's a feast tonight and I want to see if any of the tributes meet their end."

Peece looked at me oddly. "But, we're perfectly safe here. With the other tributes so desperate, there's no chance any of them will be coming here."

"Yes, but I want to see if I can kill any of them or if they can kill each other."

"But Kaos, what's the point?" Peece pleaded. "You could get hurt and then what would happen?"

"But if I can get rid of some of the tributes, then we have a better chance of getting home faster."

"But I don't want to go home." Peece whimpered. "I want to stay with you."

This struck me; she would rather spend time with me than go to her own home. I paused, looking at her hard before sighing. "Fine Peece, I'll stay here with you."

She smiled brightly and hugged me tight, dragging me back down to the stone beneath us. I stroked her hair softly as she drifted back to sleep. When I was sure that she was completely oblivious to the world, I wiggled from her grasp and slipped out of the cavern, sliding the large stone back into place before heading into the woods to hunt. It would give me time to think on what I should do. I wanted to see the tributes massacre each other while I sat back and watched, but I didn't want Peece to think that she couldn't trust me not to just leave her. I sighed as I decapitated three rabbits and slung them over my shoulder, heading quickly back to the cavern to find Peece looking around for me. She looked up fearfully when I moved the large rock out of my way, but she relaxed when she found the rabbits over my shoulder.

"Something wrong?" I smirked at her reproachful glare.

"I thought you'd gone to the feast." She mumbled.

"I thought about it, but there were two things in my way."

"What?"

"You." I murmured slowly. "The thought of you thinking I had betrayed you just because I was only thinking of my pleasure." Peece blushed slightly and I snorted. "That, and it's still too early for the feast. It's only about one in the afternoon."

Peece rolled her eyes and scooted closer to me. "Kaos, I will let you go to the feast tonight on one condition." I shivered as her breath hit my neck and my arms fell around her waist.

"W-what's that?" I asked shakily.

Peece chuckled as she straddled my lap and nipped at my shoulder. "I think you know what it is." My eyes rolled as she buried her teeth into my neck and I moaned, letting her overtake me.

* * *

><p>I breathed deeply of the air as I rolled the rock into the entrance, enough that the small opening I left for Peece couldn't be seen from outsiders. I tugged my hoodie on over my naked body and took off into the trees, a handmade sheath of knives strapped across my chest and around my waist. I stole through the forest, my footsteps barely making a sound, almost giving off the allusion of being the wind.<p>

I made it back to the Cornucopia within half an hour's time and climbed a tree swiftly, looking around for anything that might look like one of the other tributes. I waited about three minutes before I saw a rustle down near the meadow below. Looking closely, it looked like a boy and a girl. It couldn't have been Gato and Shimmer because the girl didn't have platinum blonde hair. It must have been Briana, the girl from District Eight. Looking at the boy with her, I deduced that it must have been the boy from District Six, Swift. I was just aiming my knives for both of them when a flash of silver caught my eye below and I quickly jumped into a different tree, just in case of attack. Glancing down, I saw Shimmer and Gato crouched in the bushes, poised to attack.

I chuckled silently at their watchful expressions and decided to watch Briana and Swift to see what they would do. Slowly, they stepped into the light, creeping slowly toward the Cornucopia. I smirked as they looked around and seemed to relax. Swift grabbed the backpack with the Six on it, but Briana seemed to be contemplating something as her hand hovered over the table.

"What are you doing?" Swift demanded. "Grab your bag and let's go!"

"But if the other tributes need this stuff, why would we leave it for them?" Briana murmured, making to grab the backpack with the Two on it as well. Swift quickly grabbed her wrist.

"No, there's no reason to grab their bags other than to make extra work for ourselves. Grab your bag so we can get out of here."

Briana shook her head and stared at the backpack with the Three on it too.

"Briana!" Swift hissed, glaring at her angrily.

"Come on, Swift. If we take their supplies, they won't be able to last for the rest of the Games and we'll be victorious. We'll be the winners and we can go home."

I watched in amusement as Swift and Briana fought over which bags to take with them. I wondered if they were going to take each other out and, with a swift glance to the bushes below, I deduced that Shimmer and Gato were wondering the same. The two weren't having a fistfight yet, but they seemed very close to it, Briana's hands curled angrily.

Finally, Swift sighed. "This is getting us **nowhere**!" he growled. "We need to just grab our bags and go before the other tributes show up if they haven't already."

"But if we take their bags, then they won't get what they need and one of them might contain medicine for a dying tribute."

"But if they don't and it's something we don't even need, we'll just have had extra weight with us while the other tributes were hunting us down. I saw Kaos that day she took on those Careers-."

"What?" Briana asked slowly.

"I've been spying on them the entire time. Kaos is a real threat and I don't doubt that she has amazing tracking skills. If that tribute from District One is dying, then she'll be deadest on coming after us so that she can save the girl. We need to grab our stuff and go."

I snickered silently as Briana's face turned beet red. "So this entire time, when you were supposed to be hunting for food, you could have actually been taking out the Careers and the demon child?"

"Oh, she's much more than the demon child. She's-." Briana didn't wait to hear the rest. Instead, she pulled a knife out of her waistband and, quick as lightning, sliced across Swift's face.

"I've been starving because you wanted to play spy?" she spat hysterically. "I thought you really couldn't hunt, but it turns out that you chose not to."

Swift glared at her and pulled his own knife out. The two stared at each other for a moment before Briana leaped forward with a roar. Swift, true to his name, sliced across her forehead before I could even blink and continued slashing at her until Briana was covered in bloody gashes. She glared up at him from the ground as she coughed up blood. Swift stared down at her in horror and dropped the knife, staring at it, terrified.

Faster than I would have thought possible, Briana shot off the ground and lodged her knife deep in his chest, all the way up to the hilt. Swift's eyes widened in shock as he fell and Briana soon dropped beside him. I chuckled louder now and stood on the branch. "Two more tributes met their bloody demise." I remarked, doing a classic flip out of the tree and landing next to the two bloody bodies. "And that was such an interesting way for it to play out too."

I walked over to the backpacks on the table and sifted through the packpack for Swift. There was extra food and a few water bottles in there. The one for Briana had a very fine collection of knives and explosives. I slung both packs over my back and grabbed the ones for Districts One and Twelve too. I turned to the field and jumped down so that Shimmer and Gato wouldn't be able to keep up on my trail. Going in a wide arc, I watched the two of them cautiously step out of the bushes and snatch their respective packs before darting back into the woods.

I smirked at their obvious fright that I might still be around and went the long way back to the cavern. I glanced around to make sure there was no one around before thrusting the packs in through the entrance one by one before crawling in myself. Peece looked up at me with a bright smile when I entered, but her face fell into a mask of confusion when she saw that I had not two, but four packs with me.

"Briana, the girl from District Eight, and Swift, the boy from District Six, killed each other at the feast and I decided that it wouldn't do much harm to grab whatever their supplies were."

Peece nodded and scooted closer. I opened the pack for District Twelve and found a set of clothing as well as more bandages and ointments. I glanced up to find that Peece had the exact same thing.

"Well, I guess that means no more walking around undone." I chuckled at her slightly crestfallen look and pulled her closer.

"Come on," I cooed. "let's get some sleep before tomorrow. We need to rest up so that we can be prepared for anything Gato, Shimmer, the Gamemakers or the weather might throw at us." Peece nodded and snuggled into me as I laid back on out blankets, stroking her hair as we both drifted into a more peaceful sleep. _We're almost home._


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter Twenty-Seven**

I woke up with a yawn. Glancing down, I saw Peece snuggled into me and smiled. We had decided to just leave our clothes off until the day time and take them off at night when it was time for bed. I shifted slightly and woke Peece; she yawned softly and opened her eyes, smiling at me and sitting up. "Good morning, Kaos." she greeted me, leaning down to press a soft kiss to my lips.

"Morning, Peece. Ready to tackle the day?"

"Sure. There's only four of us left, after all. We'll be home soon and then we can be together. Want to go hunting?"

My eyes narrowed immediately at the thought of Peece out there in the forest with me while I'm still a high target for Gato and Shimmer. "I don't know, Peece," I said slowly. "I don't want you to get hurt."

"But I promise I'll stay close to you." Peece pleaded. "Besides, there's only four of us left and Gato and Shimmer would definitely want to find a place that's far away from you in case you could smell them. Please Kaos?" She made her eye big and round and pouted out her lips, looking so much like a little child that I chuckled and shrugged.

"Fine, but you can't use your bow and arrows unless we're attacked. Got it?"

"Yup!" Peece grinned and I took a pair of knives with me.

I moved the rock aside and led Peece out into the wilderness. I sniffed for any scents of rabbit and caught a trail. I motioned for Peece to follow me as I followed the scent trail, which was crossed with numerous other woodland creatures too, but I just wanted the rabbit. Naturally, I ended up catching a few other things along the way, but I kept us on the trail of the rabbit I wanted.

As we moved through the undergrowth, I kept a watchful eye on Peece. I spotted the rabbit I was looking for a few meters away and I wanted to pounce on it. However, Peece was with me, so I had to attempt to control my instincts around her, just in case she got hurt. I threw my knife and nailed the rabbit in the side of the head. I heard the _twang_ of Peece's bow and my eyes widened as I turned to see her nail a bird in a tree.

"Peece!" I hissed angrily, pulling her close to me. "What did I tell you about your arrows?"

"But Kaos," Peece said slowly. "If I can help, why shouldn't I?"

"Because Gato and Shimmer can't hear a knife being thrown at them. They can hear a bow's twang. Please, we need to save those arrows for the two remaining tributes." Peece sighed and trailed behind me, hefting the bag full of our game as I killed two more rabbits and a very old fox. Sniffing the fox, I raised an eyebrow and threw it into the brush.

"Why'd you do that?" Peece inquired in puzzlement.

"It wasn't old; it was diseased." I told her. "Let's keep moving."

Peece nodded and stayed away from the bush where I'd tossed the fox. After nailing another rabbit and three bluebirds, I turned to Peece.

"Ready to go back to the cave?" I asked as she leaned against a tree with a bored expression on her face.

"No. I want to hunt with my girlfriend, but instead I'm stuck doing nothing while she has all the fun."

"You killed a robin." I pointed out in an effort to cheer her up. Peece gave me a sharp look and I chuckled. "Fine, hon, you get to shoot anything you want. But only one arrow, alright?"

Peece raised an eyebrow. "What about something or someone hearing?"

"What could possibly care?" I snorted. "And Shimmer and Gato aren't stupid enough to come running toward us when both of us are armed." Peece nodded and raised her bow and arrow, about to shoot a field mouse. I giggled and she glanced at me.

"A field mouse?" I asked with a cock of my head. She rolled her eyes with a smile and instead turned her bow upward, expertly shooting a hawk that was coming down for the mouse. The predatory bird actually landed on top of the mouse, killing it as well.

"Nice shot." I praised, moving over to pick up both animals and handing them to Peece, who stored them in the bag.

Just then, I heard footsteps pounding toward us. My eyes narrowed as I saw Shimmer and Gato coming at us. I growled as I saw Gato using his sword to slash through the wildlife while Shimmer was doing the same with her knife. Peece moved closer to me and I stood protectively in front of her. But Gato and Shimmer raced right past us and as they did, I caught the scent of fear emanating from them as well as the terrified looks on their faces. That was when I heard the growling. My blood ran cold because I remembered this story. Katniss and Peeta had told Grudge and me about the dogs that the Capital had created from the brains of the dead tributes.

"Oh Goddess!" I cursed as I saw flashes of teeth coming toward Peece and me. "Peece, we need to run!"

"What?"

"Run!" I pushed her in front of me as we followed behind Gato and Shimmer.

I glanced behind me every few seconds to see the progress of the dogs. Mariposa fluttered quickly behind us and I urged Peece faster as the dogs slowly got closer. We burst into the clearing housing the Cornucopia and I breathed in relief. I quickly pulled Peece along behind me, leading her to the Cornucopia where Gato and Shimmer were already climbing up. I took Peece into my arms and bounded up the side. She clung to me as I set her down as far from the ground as she could get. The mutts were snarling and roaring at us like rabid dogs and it was all I could do not to jump back down there and begin pounding them all.

"K-Kaos, I'm scared." I drew Peece to me and stared down at the dogs.

"I know, so am I. But I won't let them get you."

"Then they'll just have to get you both!"

I swung around and drew a knife as Shimmer came forward. She pushed against me and made me bump Peece. I swiftly turned back and caught Peece before she could fall. She was hanging over the side, but thankfully, she was out of reach of the tribute dogs.

"Kaos!" Peece screamed, looking down fearfully as the Twine dog jumped up and tried to grab her foot.

"Hang on Peece, I won't let you fall!"

"Oh really?"

I was powerless to stop Gato from ramming into me with his shoulder and he made me lose my grip on Peece's hand. I watched in awed horror as Peece fell to the ground and into the waiting claws of the tribute mutts. I saw one take a bite and that was enough to get my rage flowing. I'd held it back for long enough.

Letting the anger and fury roar through me, I transformed and jumped down, landing in front of my love. She was lying motionless on the ground with a bite wound in her arm. The dogs all began advancing and I snarled at them, letting out a roar before charging the nearest one. It was the one with blood on its snout and frankly I didn't care who it used to be, they all had to die. I began batting at them with my large paws, making them yip and whine in pain and fear. Their claws weren't nearly as good as mine, but they had developed a plan.

Circling me, they leaned back on their haunches and pounced forward at once. I had a split second to think, _Whoa! Who else besides me totally didn't see this coming?_ And then they were upon me, their teeth and claws digging into my fur, trying to find some solace of meat. I shook at them and moved my paws back and forth, but there were twenty of them and only one of me. But I couldn't let them get to Peece; I _had_ to save her.

So I bunched myself up and jumped into the air as high as I could and then slammed myself down. I heard a thunderous boom and knew that I had made the ground shake. I heard numerous whines, yips and howls of varying degrees of pain and knew that my plan had worked very well in my favor. The dogs were all limping away from me, backing away with their tails between their legs. I stood and, despite my aching body, snarled and growled at them, taking steps closer just to see them quivering in fear.

My eyes finally narrowed on the dog with blood on its muzzle. Turns out, it was Boulder, the backstabbing little prick in my tail. I leaped forward and commenced tearing him to pieces with my claws and teeth, making him feel the pain of what he had done to me.

"Kaos?" I stopped and all eyes turned to see Peece lying on the ground looking at me in confusion. I dropped whatever was left of Boulder and rushed over to her, leaning down and nuzzling her hand with my nose.

"Peece! You're ok!"

"I wouldn't say 'ok', but I would at least say 'alive'."

I smiled a toothy cat grin and turned to the dogs. A hatch opened up in the ground and they leaped into it appreciatively. I changed back into a human and knelt next to Peece. "Your arm is pretty badly injured." I said softly, looking at the large dog bite. "I swear if that dog had rabies I'm going to-."

Peece leaned up and gave me a kiss, stopping my oncoming tirade. "We're alive, alright? We're alive."

"Not for long."

We looked up and I saw Shimmer holding a knife, getting ready to throw it. "Which one to hit first, Gato?" she asked, her eyes trained on me.

"The stronger one, duh! Once she's out of the way, there's nothing stopping us from taking out Peece and then we'll be victors."

Shimmer nodded and aimed her knife carefully. I simply grinned at her, goading her on and seconds later, the knife flew. I brought my hand up easily and only felt a small twinge of pain as the knife came to an abrupt halt. Four eyes widened in shocked horror as two widened in shock and I gave Shimmer a toothy smile.

"Never mess with a cat, Shimmer. We've got really big claws."

With that, I casually threw the knife back to her, like I would a tomahawk. Shimmer had only enough time to open her mouth to scream before the knife embedded itself snugly in her jugular. Gato took one look at the fallen Shimmer and quickly turned and ran into the woods. I smiled before turning to Peece, whose arm was beginning to bleed much more heavily.

"Come on, Darlin'." I said softly. "Let's get you to some water so we can wash that poor bite. That was a very bad doggie."

Peece giggled and I triumphed in making her brighten up even though her face was pale. We walked for thirty minutes before Peece collapsed onto the ground, unconscious from bloodloss. I quickly picked her up and began trotting making sure she still had her bow and arrows and that I still had my knives. After taking on those dogs, I still needed to heal so I had to be on alert. At long last, I reached a river and gently set Peece down next to it, dipping her arm in to quell the bleeding… or at least clean the cut.

Once I was sure it was at least clean, I pulled the arm out of the water and tore my shirt off, shredding it to strips and tying them around Peece's arm to make something of a bandage. Katniss would kill me for this since my shirt was covered in blood, but that's why I tore it to strips, I needed to get to the places where there wasn't any tribute dog blood. I went out hunting and brought back a rabbit. Cooking it over a fire, I chewed it up and fed Peece, mother bird style so that she could get the blood restored. When I was finished feeding her, I sat back and waited, hoping against everything that she was still alive from so much bloodloss. I waited for twelve hours before the anxiety began killing me. I got up and began pacing, glancing at Peece every two minutes and feeling more and more terrible every time I looked at her. After another hour of pacing, my feet began hurting and I had to sit down. When I sat, all I could do was stare at Peece and the pain in my chest was unbearable.

"Peece, please wake up." I murmured softly. "Please, I need to know you're ok."

I got no reply, not even a mumbled word in her sleep, and my vision began to blur. I quickly wiped away the tears, not wanting the cameras to catch me crying. I sniffed as I continued gazing at my love and then I saw it. A small twitch of the fingers, nothing big, but enough to tell me that I had succeeded.

I couldn't help it, a large grin spread over my face and I leaned down to place a soft kiss on Peece's hair. Mariposa fluttered down to rest on my shoulder and I smiled as I stroked her back. "She's going to be ok, Mariposa."

_I bet that makes you happy._

I chuckled and lay down next to Peece, opting to get some sleep.


	28. Chapter 28

**_Chapter Twenty-Eight_**

Something was tickling my face. My first instinct was to smash it, but since it could have been Mariposa, I settled for batting at it. My hand came into contact with something much bigger than I thought I would find and my eyes flew open as I rolled away and brandished my knife.

It took me a moment to realize that what I was aiming at was a frightened Peece rather than a hostile enemy.

"K-Kaos?" Peece inquired, her voice soft as she stayed frozen, unwilling to move in case I attacked.

"Peece?" I asked, blinking sleep from my eyes.

"G-good morning?" Why were we speaking in questions? And why did she keep stuttering? Then it dawned on me: Peece was **awake**! She was **awake **and **alive**!

"Peece!" I shouted, dropping my k nife and lunging for her, happily nuzzling her hair as I hugged her. "You're okay. You're okay. You're awake and alive and not bleeding."

"Yes, Kaos, I'm fine."

"Come on, let's get you closer to the river, you still look pale. Do you need something to eat? I can go hunting for you." "No thank you, Kaos." Peece chuckled. "I'm fine, really. Mariposa led me to some berries that I could eat." I looked around and found my Foreverfly perched on a leaf a few paces away, happily eating her own fill. I chuckled and glanced back down at my girlfriend. "You're alive." I whispered, making sure to reassure myself.

"Kaos?" Peece inquired. "Are you alright? You have bags under your eyes and you're really pale. What happened after I passed out?"

I ducked my head and muttered, "Nothing."

"You were worried?" she giggled. "About me? Silly Kaos, I'll be fine as long as I'm with you."

I snickered and shook my head at her silliness. "Alright, stay with Mariposa, okay? I'm going for a quick hunt."

Peece nodded and climbed under a bush with Mariposa to await my return. I ran a few meters away so that she couldn't see me as I stripped down and transformed, going after a few rabbits and a field mouse. I was just catching a bluebird when Mariposa came fluttering onto my shoulder and I turned to her.

"Mariposa, what are you doing here?"

_Kaos, Gato has Peece! _

"What!" I shouted, jumping down from the tree and racing for the place I'd left Peece at. She was nowhere to be found, but her bow and arrows were still under the bush.

Pulling them out, I found a note attached to the bow. Distantly wondering where Gato had gotten paper, I read the note. **Come to the Cornucopia before noon and I'll give you back your precious girlfriend… if you live that long.**

I stared at the words and crushed the paper, feeling my teeth itch and lengthen slightly as I stood. "Gato's about to be one unlucky cat."

Mariposa fluttered beside me as I transformed again and raced for the cornucopia, my clothes in my mouth as I ran. Arriving to the clearing the large structure was in, I changed back and slipped into my clothing, my sword already strapped to my pants. I stepped out into the clearing and threw Peece's bow and arrows into the Cornucopia. A second later, the bane of my short existence appeared in the mouth of the large tunnel-like structure and grinned maliciously at me.

"Here, Kitty, kitty, kitty."


	29. Chapter 29

_**Chapter Twenty-Nine**_

I glared at Gato as I stood in front of the Cornucopia. Thunderclouds rolled overhead and I rolled my eyes at how cliché the Gamemakers were being.

"I'm going to kill you, Kitty." He growled, removing his sword from its scabbard. I felt the rush of oncoming fear, but stifled it; I couldn't be worrying over my past with Peece's life on the line. Instead, I let a sneer make its way onto my lips.

"Not if I kill you first, Pussy Cat." I taunted, taking out my own sword and shifting into a dueling position.

"Not gonna happen. I'm going to avenge Shimmer."

I snickered. "Ah yes. Love seemed very high this year. So, did you and Shimmer kiss?"

Gato's eyelid twitched and he growled, "Shut up."

"Aw, she didn't even give the Big Bad Cat a kiss?" I laughed, watching his reactions.

"Shut… UP."

I sneered as a few drops began to fall. "Not even a peck on the cheek? Poor Kitten, no smoochies for you."

"SHUT UP!" Gato roared, raising his sword and charging me.

Our swords clashed loudly in the silence of the large open space. I spun and slashed at him, but Gato was ready and blocked my attack. The rain was coming down harder and it was etting a little harder for me to see. I took a step forward and forced Gato back before he fought against my strength and pushed for me to step back.

I wouldn't give in, but I did step to the side, disconnecting our swords and sending him falling forward. I swung my blade, but Gato rolled to the side and I just barely stopped my sword from sinking into the mud. I snarled and rushed at him, jumping up and kicking him in the jaw to send him flying back into the mud. Gato pushed himself up and I snarled as he swung, our blades clashing again. Once more, I stepped to the side and Gato tripped forward, his sword sinking into the soft earth below him. There was no way he would be able to get it out in time to save himself and that was fine by me.

I sheathed my sword (how chivalrous of me) and threw a punch for his jaw. Gato put his arm up and lashed at my chest, winding me and making me stumble backward. I coughed and ducked the next fist, lifting my mud-covered boot to try kicking at him. He dodged my foot and sent a blow that made me imbalanced. I fell into the mud and rolled to the side as Gato's boot slammed down where my head had been.

I snarled angrily at that and lashed upward with my fist, catching him in the diaphragm and causing him to wheeze, backing away so he could catch his breath. But I followed and threw another punch for his jaw, snapping his head to the side. He deflected my next punch and kicked me in the stomach, sending me backwards a few steps. Gato was going all out now; he was determined to win and his fist were flying, covered in mud and water as he attempted to get a hit in. Sadly, I was excellently skilled in blocking attacks, so for every punch he threw, my hand and arm were there to deflect it.

But he got a cheap shot in. slamming a blow to my chin, he jabbed my in the side and kicked me in the stomach, sending me slamming into a tree. I rolled to the side as Gato charged me and he also slammed into the trunk.

I jumped up and hefted a giant stick, swinging it and cracking him in the back of his skull. If he was going to play dirty then so was I. I swung again and caught his shoulder, smiling at the satisfying crunch I heard. Gato yelled out in agony and rounded on me, brandishing a slightly smaller branch in his hand. I smirked and swung my stick, his coming up to slam against it.

I swung once more and it was almost as if we were sword-fighting. I grunted and glared at the boy in front of me before smashing my branch into his, effectively breaking not only the tree branch, but also his hand. Gato gave an excruciated cry as I watched the blood drip from his skin. That was going to scar. Luckily, he'll be dead before anyone who cares will notice.

"I'm going to kill you!" Gato roared, charging at me; my eyes narrowed and I ran to meet him.

Just as he pulled his arm back to hit me, I jumped up and kicked out, nailing him in the nose. I landed on my feet as Gato landed on his back, splashing blood everywhere. I smirked down at him and made to move away, but Gato grabbed my leg and slammed me into the ground. I glared at him and tried to stand, but Gato didn't give me that chance, pinning my arms down with his legs and removing my sword from its sheath. My eyes widened in fear as I realized what was going on. Gato was about to kill me.

I closed my eyes, awaiting the blow from Gato that was sure to come. It would be painful losing another life, but I had to be strong for Peece. Just as Gato was about to bring the sword down on my neck, I heard the sharp twang of a bow and heard the _thunk_ of an arrow; Gato froze with his arms over his head and ever so slowly, he fell backwards. I slowly climbed to my feet and looked over to where Peece was holding a bow with grim determination set on her face.

"Peece," I breathed. "You did it. You won. We're going home!" I ran to her and swept her into my arms, spinning her around despite the many aches in my body. "We're headed home." I whispered, staring down at her.

Just then, Caesar Flickerman's head appeared above us and he grinned. "There's been a change of plan tributes. The earlier law has been rebuked. We apologize for the earlier confusion, but there is only to be one tribute that survives."

His head disappeared and I felt cold dread fill my stomach because this was my newest worst nightmare. I had to kill Peece.


	30. Chapter 30

_**Chapter Thirty**_

I backed away from Peece and stared at her in horror.

"No." I whispered. "No! **_No!_**" I sank to my hands and knees, shaking so hard I thought the ground was moving too.

"Kaos?" I looked up to see her aiming the bow and arrow at me. "You know what needs to be done now, right?"

I stared at her for a moment. This couldn't be happening. My plans always went the way I wanted them to. _Always_. Nothing ever evaded me, not Gato, not the Gamemakers, not the people back home in District Twelve, not my 'family', not even the game I hunted. _Everything_ went the way I planned it to go.

But this.

Peece had led me to believe that it was working, that I was still in control. I looked her dead in the eye and nodded, holding my chin high and waiting for the arrow to pierce my chest. Peece was so tense that it looked like she might break with the slightest tap. I saw the resolve settle into her eyes and closed my eyes as she let the arrow fly. I was surprised when it landed in front of me rather than in me and I looked back up at Peece in confusion.

"I can't do it." She murmured, kneeling beside me. "I can't kill you."

I pulled her to me in a hug. "What do we do?" I asked her. "If one of us doesn't die soon, we'll be stuck in here even longer."

"Well, you have to get back home." Peece said. "So I'll die." I looked down at her as she undid the makeshift bandage I had made.

"Peece, no! What are you doing?"

"You have to return home." Peece told me.

"No I don't. I **_hate _**District Twelve. It's dirty, smelly and there are too many thin people that are in desperate need of over-nourishment. You should return home."

"But I **hate** District One!" Peece said earnestly. "The people are arrogant, sadistic and downright greedy. All the more reason for you to return home."

I knew that we weren't going to reach an agreement so I nodded and pulled out my knife. "If we're going to die, we're dying together." I pulled her close and was about to slit my wrists.

"No Kaos, please don't do it."

"But there's no way for both of us to live… without… one of us… dying."

Peece looked up at me as my eyes widened in shock. We could both live and one of us could die. "Peece shoot me with an arrow." I told her excitedly.

"What?"

I pulled her into a hug, moved my mouth close to her ear and breathed, "I'm a cat with eight lives, Peece. If you shoot me with an arrow, you'll win and I'll still live. We can finally be happy."

Peece stared at me in surprise for a moment before setting her jaw. "Promise?" she whispered, looking up at me imploringly.

"Promise. I won't ever leave you."

Peece nodded and grabbed another arrow. Taking aim at the center of my chest, she pulled back and looked me dead in the eyes. I took a deep breath and heard the _twang_, felt the arrow pierce me. I returned to that weird dark place and sprinted for the light at the end of the tunnel before remembering that I had to give the Gamemakers time to believe that Peece had won. I vaguely heard Caesar Flickerman congratulating Peece and knew that they had been fooled. Sprinting for the light, I made it back and opened my eyes. I removed the arrow and looked around to see the hoverpad coming for Peece.

"Peece!" I shouted.

"Kaos!" she called.

I quickly ran to her as the hoverpad lowered the ladder to take her. Bunching my muscles, I jumped up and caught the ladder as well, just as the hoverpad was rising. I smiled and fought against the electric current, climbing steadily until I was next to Peece.

"You came back." she said.

"I told you I would." I beamed.

"You know the Capitol isn't going to be happy."

"Who the hell cares as long as you're champion and I have you in my arms once more?"

Peece grinned at me and leaned over, me meeting her halfway for a passionate triumphant kiss. We'd outsmarted the Capitol just like Katniss and Peeta. We'd made it.


	31. Chapter 31

_**Chapter Thirty-One**_

When they pulled us inside the hoverpad, they immediately took Peece away from me. I growled at them in anger before I realized that Peece was far too pale. Looking down, I found that the bandage had stuck to one of the deeper parts of the dog bite and the healing scab had come off. The blood was spattered all over the floor and me and I looked up fearfully as they set Peece on a worktable. I moved closer, but the doctors made me back up; I watched anxiously as they began working at her arm and I didn't know how to help. Suddenly, I saw something long, sharp and silver.

"No!" I shouted, thinking it was a dagger. I vaguely registered that it was a syringe as many of the doctors dragged me away from the table. "No! Peece!"

I tried to get my arms free, but I was still a little weak from my fight with Gato and the jump to reach the ladder had taken a lot out of me. They dragged me behind a glass door where I couldn't get to Peece. I pounded against the glass, desperately trying to reach her. I saw little miniscule cracks appearing in the glass and punched harder, slamming my hands into the glass again and again. The doctors must have seen what was happening because just as I broke through the glass door, a needle flew at me from a dartgun. Everything slowed down for a second as I fell to the ground and the last thing I saw was Peece's blood still spilling to the floor before I blacked out.

* * *

><p>When I next woke up, I was in a strange room with strange machines. There was a needle in my arm that was really poking at me. As I reached for it, a door opened and the redheaded Avox came in. Now, there was no shot of lust, just curiosity and anxiety. I needed information on Peece.<p>

"Is Peece alive?" I asked softly as the girl gave me a tray of food. The little Avox nodded and I relaxed back into the bed. "When can I see her?" The Avox shook her head; she didn't know.

I slumped down in my bed and rubbed my arm as I chewed. Once I'd finished eating, the needle pulsed, pumping me full of drugs. I fought them for a good five seconds before I succumbed to the darkness. I woke up in the middle of the night next and I growled as I began dislodging the stupid needle from my arm. I knew I had to do it quickly because the cameras were going to see me soon. The needle was almost out of my arm when it began twitching as it pumped anesthetics into me. I ripped the pipe on it to make it stop and clear liquid flowed onto the floor as I finished getting the needle out.

Someone had taken all of my knives except the one around my neck and so I kept the needle close to me since they still hadn't figured out that the necklace was a weapon. I reached for the door handle, but the hairs on the back of my neck rose and I knew that the knob must have been wired to keep me in. I instead transformed and used my claws to tear the door open. Changing back, I sniffed the air and caught the Avox girl's faint scent.

I stuck to the shadows and followed it down the hallways. Guards passed me frequently, but I was a hunter, able to blend into my surroundings in order to do what needed to be done, and right now it was stay hidden. At one instance, I'm certain a guard saw me, but I climbed the wall and clung to the ceiling as he looked to where I had been. When he and the guard with him moved on, I gave a soft sigh of relief and continued following the Avox girl's scent.

I moved down three hallways and stopped at another door that held the scent of mangos and blood. I opened it and found Peece hooked up to a machine and laying still on the bed. I cocked my head and made a slight groove in the door to tell me which door it was. Then, I walked forward and kissed the top of her head before leaving and looking around.

My eyes narrowed as I made my way through the halls. The sun didn't rise for another five hours so I was clear until then, which is when they expected me to wake up. I wish I had a hologram device that I could use to buy myself more time, but this would have to do. Sneaking from the building I was in, I made my way through the streets of the Capitol, checking every so often to make sure I wasn't being followed.

At last, I made it to the Capital building. I shook my head at that and made my way inside. Hundreds of guards paraded the hallways and I knew I would need a good disguise to get passed them. Waiting for one of the uniformed men to walk passed me, I covered his mouth and nose, dragging him into a nearby empty room. I glanced around and figured that it must have been a conference room. I let go of the guard and gave him a hard blow to the head. I quickly worked to get his clothing off before stripping to my underwear and slipping into his uniform, tucking my clothes wherever I could so I didn't have to stay in the uniform once my task was finished. I dragged him under the table and gave him another punch to make sure he stayed out for awhile.

Then, I slowly opened the door and moved out into the corridor, trying to mimic the other guards' walking style so as not to look conspicuous. Moving through the building as quietly as I could, I finally made it to Redmoon's office. I went to the room beside it and got out of the uniform, putting my own clothing back on before slowly climbing out the window. I climbed along the building until I was able to peek into Redmoon's window. He was in there with a woman and they were fooling around on a futon off to the side of the room. I worked my nails gradually under the window and started raising it an inch every few seconds. Redmoon and his… whatever she was to him, didn't seem to notice so when the window was wide enough for me to squeeze through, I slid inside and shut it as silently as I could.

Ducking behind the president's desk, I risked a peek around the side to see if either of them had seen or heard me come in. I shuddered in disgust at what I saw and moved back behind the desk. The sounds rang in my ears and I wanted to jump out and rip them both to shreds. Instead, I thought of Peece, her smile, her eyes, her hair, her skin, her voice, everything, especially the way she said my name. At long last, Redmoon and the woman seemed to finish up and the woman left for her home with a promise to be back tomorrow night. Redmoon laughed and settled onto the futon, but he stiffened when I stood from behind his desk.

"Who's there?" he demanded, glaring at me in the dark.

"Hello, Mister President." I snickered, walking slowly toward him. "I'm pawsitive that you've seen me before."

"H-have I?" Redmoon stuttered.

"Oh yes. I'm from this year's Games."

"The girl from District One?" he inquired and I laughed softly at the hope in his voice; he was hoping it was Peece so that he could face a quick painless death. His death would be quick, but not painless.

"I'm sorry, wrong girl, sir." Redmoon audibly squeaked in fear.

"The Gamemakers told me what you did. You can't just threaten them so that you can win the Games."

I leaned down and gave him a toothy smile. "I can and I did. Now, how's about we get to why I'm here, shall we?"

I transformed and covered his mouth with one of my forepaws. I could feel him screaming against my fur and I let a slight growl pass through my teeth before I used my other forepaw to break his arm, not an easy feat as a cat. His screams got louder as I continued with his other arm and both his legs. A strong blow to his pelvis easily cracked something and finally I brought my paw down on his chest cavity, breaking all of his ribs. Redmoon's eyes rolled back in his head and I nodded.

"Good night, Mr. President." I purred, changing back and slipping out the window once more.

In another hour, the guard will wake up and tell his comrades that the Capital building had been infiltrated, but before then, some official will come looking for Redmoon because as I made my way back to the place where they had been holding me and Peece, the sun began rising and the glow shined on my hair. It was going to be a beautiful day.


	32. Chapter 32

_**Chapter Thirty-Two**_

"Kaos!" Peece whooped happily as she jumped at me.

"Hello, love." I laughed, pulling her closer to me and breathing her scent.

"I missed you." Peece whimpered.

"I've been waiting hours to hug you." I stroked her hair as I saw Katniss and Peeta coming closer. I looked up at them, wondering what they would say.

"Kaos…" Katniss looked almost afraid of me. Peeta was trying to put on a brave face for his wife, but I could smell his fear as well.

"Hey Katniss, Peeta. Let me introduce you to my girlfriend. Peece, these are the people who made it possible for me to win the Games. My coaches, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark. Katniss, Peeta, the girl who motivated me to stay alive. My love, Peece Anjoy."

"Congratulations on winning the Games." Peeta said tightly.

My eyes narrowed because I knew something wasn't right. "Why aren't you happy?" I asked. "I'm still alive, aren't I?"

"But District Twelve doesn't get food!" Katniss hissed. "What's the use of staying alive if everyone else is going to starve?"

"They won't." Peece cut off my oncoming retort and we all turned to her.

"What do you mean?" Peeta inquired.

"I'm not letting them starve." Peece stated, setting her jaw and linking her fingers through mine. "Kaos was right. There are too many malnourished people out there and we need to do something about it."

I grinned and hugged her. "Now you're talking like me, Darlin'!" I chuckled, planting a soft kiss to her lips.

Just then, Pinto and another woman I didn't recognize came rushing up to us. "Have you heard?" they both gasped, their eyes wide with fear.

"What?" Katniss, Peece and Peeta demanded.

"President Redmoon's been murdered!" Pinto exclaimed.

"Misty, is that true?" Peece asked the woman, who nodded.

"Who will supervise the ceremony now?" Katniss inquired, turning to Peeta.

"I'm sure Caesar wouldn't mind doing it." I said lazily, checking over my nails. They all turned to me and it dawned on them. Katniss and Peece paled, Peeta was having trouble swallowing, Pinto had broken out into a cold sweat and the woman, Misty, fainted on the spot.

"Kaos." Katniss squeaked, her breathing going hectic as she grasped my shoulders firmly. "Kaos, _please_ tell me that you didn't kill President Redmoon. Please?"

I looked her dead in the eyes and smirked, saying, "Now Katniss, do you **really** want me to lie to you?"

Katniss let go of me and clung to Peeta, shaking heavily. Peece looked like she was going to join the woman still out cold on the floor and Pinto was looking around, analyzing the numerous escape routes. I took a step forward and they all moved away instinctively, even Peece. I felt a flash of hurt shoot across me at that and turned away quickly.

"How could you do that, Kaos?" Peeta demanded quietly, his voice trembling. "Now, they could be planning to kill us all and make an example out of District Twelve as they did with District Thirteen. How could you be so stupid as to-."

I rounded on him angrily and snarled, "I did it so we could be free!" They all flinched at my sharp tone. "I did it so that no one had to starve anymore, no one had to die of sickness and disease, no one had to grow old and watch their children die before them, so no one had to deal with these Games." I turned away and whispered, "So no one had to become a monster because of faulty experiments."

There was a long silence between us in which Mariposa fluttered onto my shoulder and I stroked her back to calm down. "Kaos, you're not a monster." Pinto said softly.

I snorted. "You looked like you were going to toss me to the dogs, Pinto. You think I'm a monster, same as the rest of Panem."

"But I don't." Peece's voice lifted my heart, but I did not turn back.

"Go ahead and faint Peece. I know you want to, just to get away from all this madness for a little while. It's not an easy thing to deal with, knowing your girlfriend is not only a monstrous feline, but also a murderer to the highest degree of treason. You shouldn't have to deal with it."

I heard someone walking toward me and I felt Peece's arms around me. "Murderer, traitor, feline, I don't care. I still love you Kaos, and I won't let you go through it alone." I gave her a small sad smile and kissed her cheek.

Turning to the adults, I gave them a once-over. "One question: is anyone going to tell the authorities?" Katniss and Peeta looked like they wanted to, but were torn by indecision and Pinto was too busy waking Misty. "Because if you aren't, then we need to get your composures restored or you won't fool anyone and that will just make our job harder."

Katniss glanced up at Peeta, took a breath and set her jaw so that her face returned to the way it was. Peeta studied his wife before nodding and doing the same as she. Pinto and Misty both brightened their faces and Peece smiled up at me.

"Ready?" I asked, to nods all around. I chuckled. "Cliché as it is, let's go make history."

* * *

><p>"Let's hear it for the champion, Ladies and Gentlemen: Peece Anjoy!"<p>

Peece and I walked out to a roaring audience. I had refused to leave her side and Pinto certainly wasn't complaining, given a chance to dress me up once more out of my blood spattered clothing. Now, I was in a simple white tank top with black short shorts and black leather boots that met the bottoms of the shorts. He'd even added in clawed gloves to give an added _umph_ to the image of the 'Cat Creature'. Peece was in a flowing lavender knee-length dress with silver flats and white gloves; the exact opposite of the 'demon child'.

I guided Peece to the throne and stood beside her as she sat down. I was beaming so much, my face felt like it was going to explode off. Someone moved forward and my eyes zeroed in on them. It was the boy who placed the crown on the victor's head. I surveyed him; he wasn't wearing gloves so the crown must not have been poisoned and his outfit was too loose to conceal a knife or other weapon. I took the pillow from him with a nod and he bowed away, the scent of fear coming off him in waves. I slowly placed the crown on Peece's head and smiled down at her softly.

She settled into the throne as the lights dimmed and I knew that the movie would be beginning soon. I grabbed a bag of popcorn for her and she offered me some. I declined, deciding to keep watch all around me just in case o danger.

As I leaned back to watch the movie, I studied my surroundings carefully to see if anyone suspected me of killing President Redmoon. There didn't seem to be any frequent glances toward me that didn't have to do with fear of me transforming, so it looked like I was safe for the time being. Just in case, I checked security; they were watching me way too closely for them to just suspect that I might change and kill.

I knelt down next to the throne so that I could be closer to Peece and surreptitiously whispered, "They're onto me. Security is watching me too closely and I have no doubt that many of the citizens might suspect, but they're acting like they don't so that they don't tip me off. Make no suspicious movement, love. If they're going to attack, I want you to be ruled out as an accomplice. Understood?"

Peece leaned over like she was going to give me a kiss and luckily it was at the part where she tried to kill me at the Cornucopia. "Understood. Sorry for trying to kill you; I was just a little upset that you killed him." Her voice had gotten louder and I figured that she must have either seen someone watching or wanted to give the kiss a reason.

"It's nothing, love. He was a friend that I killed. You had every right to be upset." I subtly swept over security again and found that they had witnessed that part of the interaction. We had them fooled for now. When the movie ended, there was roaring applause and I helped Peece stand, kissing her hand as I did so.

Caesar walked up and cleared his throat. "Now would usually be the time when the president congratulated the winning tribute on a job well done and promised them food for their District for a year." There was applause, but Caesar continued. "Howeer, the president couldn't, uh, couldn't be here today. Let us bow our heads for our departed President Redmoon."

The tension level in the room rose so far, the hairs all over my body were standing on end and tingling. While everyone else bowed their heads, I watched as officers moved through the crowd, watching me. I gave them a catty smile and cleared my throat. Show time. "I have an announcement to make." When I had all their attention, I called, "I killed President Redmoon."

Several gasps rang out and I chuckled, my eyes narrowing as I surveyed them all speculatively for a moment. "It was not that I had something personal against him; he was a good president. However, I don't think the way he was running Panem fit with the way everyone else wanted it to run."

"Treason!" several people shouted, raising any form of weapon they could and coming toward me. My eyes narrowed and I snarled into the microphone, causing the sound to echo all around us and freeze the people in their places.

"Either listen to what I have to say or turn this entire theatre into a bloodbath." I growled to them. They hurriedly ran back to their seats and I nodded. "Thank you. Now, as I was saying, I'm pawsitive that there are hundreds of people out there who would like to see this country run better. I think that since I was the one to kill Redmoon, I should become president." There was another uproar, but it quieted as I went on. "No, I do not plan on keeping the post. I will appoint the position to someone I find trustworthy enough to carry it out, but I will make the necessary changes before then."

I leveled the crowd with a glare. "There are far too many hungry people in this country. You sit here and eat most of the food grown in District Eleven and squander the goods from the other districts, but that's not happening anymore. I refuse to let my District and the ones around it, suffer because of your selfishness. Not anymore. Thank you for your time. Caesar, if you would continue with the ceremony please?"

Caesar walked up and put his smile back on to try and relax the crowd despite the sweat on his forehead. "As I said before, ladies and gentlemen, the president would normally congratulate the victor, but instead, the Head Gamemaker is here to do it in his place."

There was applause as the Head Gamemaker walked onstage and shook hands with Peece. I watched him closely as he told her that the food would be sent to District One.

"No." Peece stated firmly. Everything went silent as many stared in confusion. "I don't want the food going to District One. I want it to go to District Twelve."

"Excuse me?" the Gamemaker inquired.

"I want the food to go to District Twelve." Peece repeated, much slower.

"I'm afraid we can't do that." The Gamemaker told her, his eyes hard.

"Why not? It's just a simple address change."

"No. We will not send the food to District Twelve. It is strictly against Game rules to send it to any District other than that of the champion."

"And have you not noticed that there are two tributes alive?" Peece snapped. "One of them is from District Twelve."

"She was not meant to live, so that makes you the champion and your District is One."

"And if I change where my District is?" Peece asked.

"That will not change a thing. You were entered under One and will remain so until you return to that District and move."

I snarled at the Head Gamemaker angrily. Peece was pleading with him to send the food to District Twelve instead of District One, but he continually refused. Peece looked ready to cry and there was no way that was going to happen. She had done enough crying on television to last her a lifetime, if she were going to cry again, she had better be happy.

"Excuse me," I called, moving to Peece's side. "Can I just butt in here for a second?"

Peece moved to the side, looking downcast as I turned to the man calmly. Just as calmly, I took him by the throat and lifted him off the ground. "You listen and you listen good." I snarled as gasps and screams rang out around us. "Do you know who that is?"

The Gamemaker gulped and said, "P-Peece Anjoy, Hunger Games tribute of District One and Champion of the 90th Games?"

"I'm sorry, what was that last part, say it louder."

"Champion of this year's Games!" he stated louder as my hand tightened.

"Exactly. Now explain to me _why_ she shouldn't have a _choice_ in where the food gets sent since _she_ is the one that won?"

"W-well, uh…" My eyes narrowed and I nodded.

"Since you cannot come up with a valid reason, or rather, you don't want the people of Panem to _know_ said reason, why don't you grant my girl's _one_ wish and_ send the damn food to District Twelve!_" The Gamemaker squeaked and nodded.

"We'll send it to District Twelve." He squeaked.

"I'm sorry," I snarled. "What was that? Say it louder."

"We'll send the food to District Twelve." He shouted.

I nodded and set him back down. "Thank you. My District will be happy that you could find it in your hearts to send them food."

I turned to Peece to find her grinning at me happily. Many in the crowd began clapping happily at the display and I gave them a catty smile, sending a wink at the blue-skinned blonde I had upset in the start of the Games. She waved to me happily and I pulled Peece to me.

"Caesar, would you do the honors?" I asked the kind man.

He nodded with a smile and raised the microphone. "Ladies and Gentlemen of Panem, your champion-." Peece cleared her throat and gave him a small smile as she interlaced her fingers with mine. "-er, _champions_, Peece Anjoy and Kaos Andyscord!" Peece and I raised our linked hands to the crowd and I gave Caesar a high five as Pinto, Boralia, Connectivo, Katniss, Peeta, Effie and Misty cheered from the sidelines.

_We've done it._ Mariposa fluttered her wings on my shoulder.

_We've won, my sweet Foreverfly_. I agreed.


	33. Chapter 33

_**Chapter **_**_Thirty-Three_**

The next day, changes were made to the government. Since I had killed President Redmoon, a new one had to be appointed and I decided that Caesar needed to be promoted, so he was given that privilege. The Games were finally over with and resources were to be shipped out that afternoon to all of the Districts that needed help. Peece worked with the Avox commissioner to have the Avoxes freed and to hire the ones that willingly stayed. Katniss and Peeta stayed with her while I began readjusting the government. It would take days to get through all the paperwork, but I wasn't going to give up until the Districts were freed from 'tyranny' as Peece called it sometimes.

Moving from the presidential office, I stretched and walked to my rooms. Until Caesar was officially president, I was still in charge and therefore the presidential suite was mine. Cracking my neck, I groaned as I headed to the bedroom wondering if I could get in a nice catnap before heading back to the office.

Switching on the light, I froze at the sight before. There lay Peece in a lacy nightie, her hair curled around her shoulders and a large smile curling her lips as her blue eyes peeked at me seductively. Every beautiful curve, every luscious piece of skin, every gorgeous lock of hair open and waiting for me to-. I blinked for a moment and cocked my head.

"P-Peece." I breathed, my eyes roving her body hungrily.

"Come to bed, Kaos." She whispered, pulling the blanket back.

A purr began making its way from my chest to my throat as I stripped of my jeans and tank top. Moving over to the bed, I slid under the covers and Peece joined me, moving her body close to mine. Her hair smelled like oranges and I took a long sniff, savoring the scent. Peece began stroking my side and I whimpered, pulling back slightly to look at her.

"Kiss me, Kaos." She pleaded. "I haven't seen you all day. Please, I've missed you."

"I've missed you too, Peece." I murmured, leaning forward and connecting our lips.

At last, everything was finished. It had taken eighteen days, countless hours and _so many piles of paperwork_, but the Districts were finally in good hands. Caesar and I were about to go to the ceremony where we'll shake hands and he'll be the new president. Pinto had dressed me in a smooth-flowing green dress with a slit up each side all the way to the waist, silver combat boots with claws at the end, silver fingerless elbow gloves and a black choker with a silver cat's head pendant. Peece was wearing a simple white dress with silver lining, silver flats and a pearl necklace provided by Misty. We walked out together and waved to the crowd, a polite smile on Peece's face and a smirk upon my own.

Some nameless announcer began the ceremony and then he called upon me and Caesar. "Does the president want to say anything before she gives over her position?" he inquired, grinning at me.

I took the microphone and said, "I guess this is the start of a new world. A world where the Capitol won't be targeted for being the richest place, yeah? Too bad District Thirteen couldn't be here to see it. Now, I'm happy to hand over this country into the capable hands of one Caesar Flickerman!" I turned to Caesar and shook his hand, winking at him. "Hope you'll keep it in good hands, right?"

"That's right, Kaos. I'm honored to receive this honor from you of all people as well."

I ducked my head with an artificial blush painting my cheeks as Caesar and I paused for pictures before Peece and I headed over to Katniss and Peeta. Pinto strode up and hugged me, much to my surprise. I awkwardly hugged him back before turning to Peece and intertwining my fingers with hers. "You've done it." she whispered.

I shook my head and leaned closer. "WE'VE done it." I purred, leaning over to press my lips against hers. Pulling back with a wide grin, I saw Mariposa flutter down onto my shoulder and I stroked her back, just the way she liked it.

_We certainly have, Kaos._ She told me.

_Well, I certainly couldn't have done it without you, sweet Mariposa._ I replied to which she fluttered her wings and hopped onto Peece's hair, crawling down to nuzzle her cheek.

_No, I suppose you couldn't._

Together, Peece, Pinto, Peeta, Katniss, Mariposa and I all moved toward the train station with a procession of citizens following us. We were heading to District One to pick up Peece's things before going to District Twelve. I was surprised when Pinto climbed up behind us.

"I've decided to head to District Twelve to be a stylist there with my sisters." He told me with a warm smile.

I grinned cattishly at him and headed to my designated room on the train, shedding my clothing as I went. Finally arriving in nothing but the leggings Pinto had made me wear underneath and my bra, I dropped my other clothing off near the bed and stripped of the rest in the bathroom. I turned the water to my preference and stepped in, feeling the refreshing liquid wash away all the stress I'd felt before with all the paperwork and trying to make sure that the Districts were taken care of. Groaning in relief, I sank to my knees within the shower and just let the water wash over me. After what seemed to be an hour, I stood once more and stepped out, grabbing a cottony towel and drying off before wrapping it around myself and moving to my bed, letting the towel fall and just lounging back. Before I knew it, I was sinking into sleep.

I woke up a short while later to someone knocking at my door. "Who is it?" I called groggily.

"Kaos, it's me, Peece." Her sweet voice replied. I didn't feel like getting under the blanket.

"Are you alone?" I asked back.

"Yes."

"Come in."

The door cautiously opened and she smiled to see me sprawled on my bed. "Relaxed, are we?" she giggled softly.

"Too much work." I groaned, letting my head fall back onto the pillow. "Just wanna sleep."

Peece scooted my body over slightly and began rubbing my back. I gave a soft sigh of content and laid my head in her lap. Slowly, her hand moved from my back to my neck and up into my hair, beginning to scratch lightly at my scalp. I purred in approval, especially when she scratched behind my ears. A knock awoke me what felt like hours later and I realized that I had fallen asleep again.

"Kaos, Peece?" It was Katniss' voice that filtered through this time.

"What do you need, Katniss?" I inquired.

"We'll be there in little over twenty-five minutes." She told me.

I groaned and nodded, slowly getting up. Peece smiled at me and I stared at her. "Were you awake the entire time?" I asked slowly.

"Yes." She responded with a wide grin. "I was watching you sleep. You're less menacing and contemptuous when you're sleeping, much more peaceful."

"You stayed awake to watch me sleep?" I said it slowly as if to myself so that I was sure I understood. Peece nodded with her sweet smile still beaming in place. I chuckled and shook my head. "You're an odd one, Peece. But I suppose I wouldn't have fallen in love with you if you weren't."

"Come on, Kaos." Peece laughed. "You need to get dressed. No matter how much _I_ like seeing you like this, I would prefer I was the only one."

"Come on, Peece." I chuckled. "All of Panem has seen us both naked."

"Yes, but they had no right. Now that you're fully mine, I want to be the only one to see you completely and totally untamed." Her voice had gotten lower and I felt a shiver run through my body. I nodded and rolled my eyes, grabbing a classic tank top and jeans along with a pair of undergarments. Quickly getting dressed, I touched the knife pendant necklace at my throat and felt a pang of longing for the knives I'd lost.

Mariposa fluttered down and landed on my shoulder, nuzzling her little antennae into my cheek. _What's wrong, Kaos?_ She asked.

_Nothing. I'll get over it._ She cocked her little head at me and fluttered her wings in a nod.

Peece and I emerged from my room just as the train was stopping. There were others who would be getting on and off throughout the journey to other Districts so I wanted to be careful, in case someone decided to be ungrateful and take a hit at Peece. Heading to the doors, Katniss and Peeta joined us and I smiled to them. The doors opened and a large crowd applauded us as we stepped out together with me in front followed by Peece Katniss and Peeta bringing up the rear. Most of the crowd was shouting out for Peece's autograph and congratulating her on her superb acting with the other Careers. I felt a slight sting when they said that, but I knew that Peece wasn't acting her love for me so I shrugged it off.

We made our way through the city with several people throwing flowers and money and other gifts to my girlfriend. Several teenage boys and more than a few grown men asked her to marry them and I had to step up and growl in order for them to back off. My eyes never left the crowd, waiting for my neck hairs to stand on end in case of danger. We successfully made it to Peece's home without anyone making a move at us and I breathed a sigh of relief.

An elderly man came to the door and shouted, "Peece!"

"Papa!" Peece shrieked happily, running up and hugging the man who embraced her as if his life depended on it.

"You're alive. You're still alive." He just kept chanting that over and over again. Two young boys raced from the house and jumped at Peece. I noticed that they had her same blue eyes but their hair was jet black.

"Sis, did you bring us anything from the Games?" one asked excitedly.

"Did you bring us a head?" the other laughed.

"No, no heads. The Capital probably wouldn't allow it."

"We saw you on the TV." The slightly smaller of the two told her. "You were naked with a girl."

I could clearly see the blush painting Peece's cheeks as she glanced at me. The boys took notice and turned to me, their eyes wide in awe. Before I knew what was happening, two whirlwinds of black shot toward me and jumped on me. I just barely managed to keep my balance.

"You're the cat that caught our sister!" the smaller one shouted, staring at me in wonder.

"What makes you turn into a cat?" the other one asked, poking and prodding at me to see if I would turn.

I couldn't turn because these clothes weren't fitted to be stretchable, so he wasn't going to have luck and I couldn't think of a way to get them off me. I turned to Peece with pleading eyes, their hands on me not feeling good at all to my hypersensitive skin.

"Wander! Sersch!" she called. The two boys froze atop me. "Let her go. She can't turn into a cat because her clothes will tear and the rest of them are all the way back on the train." The boys grudgingly climbed off me, but continued to watch me with worshipping expressions.

I moved forward and the man held out his hand before remembering what I had done to Effie in the beginning of the Games. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Andyscord. And I would like to thank you for taking such good care of my Peece."

"It was no trouble at all, Mr. Anjoy." I told him politely, shooting him a catty smile as Mariposa fluttered atop my head.

"The Foreverfly!" the boys yelled together, running at me.

At that moment, I knew that I had to save Mariposa before their grabbing hands squashed her like the bug most thought she was. So, my resolve set, I turned and gave a resounding snarl that froze them in their tracks. "Don't touch Mariposa if you wish to live long enough to see your next birthday." I growled lowly, making them both go pale.

They nodded frantically and ran over to Peece, hiding behind their big sister in order to be safe from me. Peece laughed and moved over to me. "Come in, both of you. And you as well." He called to Katniss and Peeta who had been watching the whole ordeal with bemused expressions. We all headed inside and sat in the living room.

"So, Miss Andyscord-."

"Call me Kaos." I told him simply.

"Alright then, Kaos." He chuckled. "How did you fall for my Peecie?"

I glanced to Peece. "It was when I first saw her while on the train. There wasn't a rule that said I _couldn't_ move around the train so I went out in search of other human beings. Peece was just coming out of her room and we just stared at each other for five to fifteen whole minutes."

"I remember," Peece agreed. "You were in the middle of the hallway and I was going out to find wherever they had kept the peanut butter. I froze when I saw you because I wasn't sure whether or not you were going to kill me and when you turned around to walk back to your room, I realized just how long I had been standing there and I'd forgotten all about the peanut butter."

"So you were in love with her the entire time?" Katniss inquired incredulously.

"Yes." I nodded. "Why?"

"Peeta and I didn't notice until the interviews where you showed your destruction making skills. When Peece was speaking, you were hanging on her every word despite trying to look disinterested."

I shrugged. "I tried and failed. Either way, I got the victory, I got the food and…" I leaned over to place a soft kiss against Peece's lips. "I got the girl. While humiliating pretty much all of the Careers to do it."

"Well, either way, I'm glad she's finally found someone to make her happy. What with these Games and her mother's traditions, she's not been herself. I haven't seen that sparkle in her eyes in a long time. Thank you."

I felt a slight blush creeping to my cheeks at his acknowledgement of something I didn't technically even do. "No problem." I murmured.

"Papa." Peece began. "I was wondering if you wouldn't mind me going back to District Twelve with Kaos…"

Mr. Anjoy smiled and stood to hug his daughter. I felt a pang of longing flash across my chest, but I tried to keep it off my face. From the way Katniss glanced at me in confusion, I guess I didn't cover it fast enough.

"I wouldn't want a better protector for my little girl. Go ahead."

"Thank you, Papa!" Peece shrieked happily. She turned and rushed off into another room that I presumed was her own. She returned a few minutes later with a pouch full of what looked to be her most valuable possessions.

"Ready to go?" I asked softly.

Peece nodded and grinned at me before hugging her father and turning to her brothers. "You both be good for Papa, okay? Don't do anything too rash." They both nodded obediently, onyx hair flopping comically. I smiled and walked out with a wave to Mr. Anjoy, Wander and Sersch. Peece, Katniss and Peeta followed after me and we made our way back to the train where there was already a crowd of people waiting for us. We all smiled and waved as we boarded and I breathed a sigh of relief as we made our way to District Two.

Stepping off the train in District Two was strange. The crowd simply stared at me fearfully. Then I remembered that I had been the one to kill both of their tributes in unexpected ways. I mean, I crushed Shake with paws no one knew I had and I threw Shimmer's own knife back at her after catching it myself. The crowd didn't know how to respond to us and I was glad that all we had to do was smile and wave for the news crews.

Once those going from District Two to other Districts boarded, we all headed back on and made our way to District Three. I was wary of letting Peece off at all so Katniss took one side and Peeta took her other as I walked in front of her protectively. As to be expected, several women rushed forward, most of them around my age, to avenge Gato. I snarled at them and unsheathed my claws, brandishing them menacingly and even going so far as to take a swipe at one of the girls' face. They recoiled and consented to simply glaring holes into my head until I got back on the train. I shot one last glare at all of them before I boarded and I took Peece's hand, smiling cattishly.

District Four was utterly terrified of me, moving back several feet when I came off the train. It took me a moment to realize that I had killed both of their tributes as well. _How many people did I kill?_ I wondered absently as my trainers, Peece and I waved to the cameras and waited for those coming with us to board and those leaving to descend.

District Five was… interesting. They weren't even the slightest bit hostile towards Peece for killing Boulder. When I asked one celebrating person why, he said that because Boulder had betrayed Twine, they were celebrating Peece for killing him and me for giving such a heartfelt farewell to Twine herself. I could feel the blush spring to my cheeks when he said that and I ducked my head in understanding before we had to board the train once more.

District Six through Ten were a blur. The crowds cheered for us, definitely, but no threats were made… by the crowd. I threatened quite a few men who wanted Peece as theirs, one going so far as to grab her hand as he got on one knee. I picked him up and threw him a good two yards and that stopped most of the people trying to court her.

District Eleven was the same as District Five. Even though I had killed one of their own, they were more focused on the good-bye I had given to Wheat than anything else. Many were even singing the song I had used as a farewell to Twine. I felt a blush creep up my neck for the third time that day and wondered how many more times I would have to blush before my face exploded and my ego imploded.

Finally, the moment I dreaded had come. I was home at last. After endless time in the Arena, I was back at District Twelve. I had met several of these people and none of them had liked me except for Magpie and Marissa. Now, as I stepped from the train, they all stared at me silently as if waiting for something. No one made a sound until finally, near the back, Greasy Sae and the others I usually traded with began hooting and whistling, clapping and cheering as I exited the train and the call was quickly taken up by the rest of the crowd, many of them patting me on the back. I heard several people telling me 'good job' and 'your parents must be proud'. At that mention, I felt a stab of anger at the fact that my _parents_ hadn't even believed in me. I looked back to see Peece, Peeta and Katniss right behind me and I smiled.

Suddenly, the crowd grew quiet and I looked around to find the source. There, standing in the middle of the crowd were the man and woman who had taken me in. They stared at me hard for a few moments before the man shook his head. "This entire time," he murmured. "We've been feeding you and clothing you and you neglected to tell us that we've been harboring a monster?" I felt a flash of hurt and it suddenly hit me: Everyone saw me as such. Hundreds of thousands of people saw me as a monster. This man had just proven that to me.

There was a deafening silence before a blue-eyed demon shot forward and punched the man square in his jaw. "How dare you!" Peece shrieked. "She just saved all of our lives by risking her own and you _dare_ to call _her_ the monster?"

"Peece." I called. She froze and turned to me. "Don't bother. He's right anyway. I am a monster."

There was an uproar at this and Greasy Sae made her way through the crowd with the other traders right behind. They all surrounded me and began telling me otherwise. "Who was it who risked getting detected to help others get food?"

"Who was it who always brought in the good rabbit with barely a scratch on it?"

"Who was always out bright and early no matter what day even before school so she could feed those miserable wretches over there?"

As one, they all shouted, "KAOS!"

And suddenly, the cry was taken up by two voices I hadn't expected. Out of the crowd stepped Magpie and Marissa, grinning at me and shouting, "Kaos! Kaos! Kaos!" And the call was echoed by the entire crowd, cheering me on for what I'd done for them all.

I grinned as Peece came toward me and wrapped her arms around my shoulders. "You're not a monster, Kaos." She told me, placing a soft kiss to my cheek.

I stroked Mariposa as Marissa and Magpie moved forward to hug me and everyone else moved in to do the same, all wanting to celebrate and simply _touch_ the one who had saved them from starving. Peece and I were mashed together in the middle of the crowd and lifted up onto everyone's shoulders. Entwining our fingers we grinned and with our other hands we shared a high five. I turned and waved to Peeta and Katniss, blowing them a kiss and mouthing the words 'thank you'. From the way they grinned and nodded at me, I think they understood. I was home. I was a monster in the entire world's eyes, but to this one particular place, right here in the Seam… I was a hero.


	34. Chapter 34

Chapter Thirty Four

I stretched and yawned, moving up to the house I shared with Peece. Ever since I got everything sorted out and supplies had been sent to all of the Districts that needed it, I had been helping to rebuild houses and teach others how to hunt for their food so that no one had to go hungry if there was a food shortage in the area. I taught them which plants were edible and which prey were best. Naturally, though, I was only an apprentice in the art. Katniss was the one that taught me the names of the plants since not everyone had my sense of smell. I simply added in any helpful tips and showed them the different ways of wielding weapons. The only one I didn't show them was Katniss' art, the bow and arrow, which she took care of for me.

Now, the lands were becoming much more lively, people weren't as thin as they were before and there were more smiles within the town. Everywhere I went, people called out to me in greeting and some bowed to me, presenting statues of cats. It was somewhat embarrassing, especially since I crooned over every statue they gave me since they were all of high taste and very beautiful.

I grinned as I walked toward my home. The village houses were now open to anyone who wanted them, but Peece and I received ours as a gift from the people of the Seam for saving them so ours was one of the most beautiful houses. There were large windows to let the sun in, shutters for when we needed the light to go away, there were five rooms inside and Peece and I had definitely made use of them. Speaking of, the people using them were causing a lot of ruckus within the house.

"Don't tear up the carpet!" I shouted as a greeting from the bottom of the porch steps. There was a loud squeal of 'Daddy!' and out of the door raced five beautiful children. I chuckled as I watched Hope and Grace try to climb over Purrsilla and Clawdia in order to get to me. Spike came out last, waiting for the girls to finish their rough-housing before he made an appearance. They all jumped at me and bowled me over, their soft mews mixing with their barely formed words. Yeah, that's right; Peece and I had five gorgeous children and the best part? They're biologically ours.

I suppose I have to hand it to the Capitol for doing something right, even if it was by accident. See, at one point, while I was in heat and in my cat form, I sniffed Peece and moved closer, purring happily at her scent. Because my human form was in love with her, it caused her pheromones to become enticing to the cat side of me. She had just gotten out of the shower and was going to go get dressed, but I stopped her, pressing a paw flat on her chest and laying her out right on the floor. Ugh, how humiliating of me.

Anyway, I began licking all over Peece's neck and chest and I guess my hips started thrusting against hers. While that was happening, Peece was apparently trying to talk to me. She told me afterwards that she was trying to warn me about the fact that my catform was actually male. I had shrugged it off at the time, pointing out that cats and humans have a difference in chromosomes. Imagine my surprise five weeks later when my darling starts having mood swings and morning sickness.

So, eighteen months later, here we are with five very healthy children. They've developed quicker than I did when I was growing up and they could walk on their own. Their speech was slightly impaired though, interlaced with the usual cat growls and meows. Clawdia and Purrsilla looked exactly like Peece, even the blue eyes. Hope and Grace were the spitting image of me, their hair even had the same color scheme like fire. Spike was a mix of us both. He had his mother's beautiful blue eyes coupled with my hair which was littered with brown streaks. He was going to be really handsome when he grew older, I could tell.

As I chuckled and stood, letting the girls roll over themselves, I turned to Spike and beckoned him forward. He grinned and rushed over to me. I squatted down to receive his hug and he smiled happily. "Papa!" he growled. "I grew tooth!"

"Really?" I asked in surprise. "Let me see." He opened his little mouth and, sure enough, a sharp tooth was just poking through the gum. "Well done!" I congratulated him.

"Welcome home, Kaos." My heart began to pound at that sultry tone and I turned to find the object of my devotion leaning against the doorway and smiling at me. Darkened blue eyes peeked from beneath brown curls as Peece slowly moved closer, encircling her arms around my neck.

"I missed you." She breathed.

"Oh?" I furrowed my eyebrows, cocking my head at her.

"That's right." She snuggled her head into my shoulder, giving off her own kind of purr; it was obviously different from the ones the kids and I gave off, but she was human, what could you expect? "Once the children are in bed, I could show you just how much?"

I grinned goofily at the suggestion before a shout from behind me caught our attention. We turned to see Katniss, Peeta, Pinto, Conectivo and Boralia heading our way. I grinned at them and held Peece close so that my mouth was right next to her ear. "Tonight." I breathed, sending a shiver down her spine.

"Count on it!" she gasped, leaning up to snag a quick kiss. I chuckled and turned fully to face our friends. The kids paused as the five newcomers came closer and there was a squeal as they raced for their aunts and uncles. Katniss prepared herself for Spike while Peeta and Pinto caught a kit each and Conectivo and Boralia were bowled over by Grace and Purrsilla.

"Hey, Uncle Peeta!" Hope giggled.

"Are you going to tell the story of how you and Daddy met, Uncle Pinto?" Clawdia asked, large blue eyes staring up at him excitedly.

"I don't see why it would hurt." Pinto chuckled.

They had him tell that story every time he came over and each time he would embellish it more until I just looked at him funny for thinking up such things. One evening, he told them I came into the Capital in my cat form and let strangers rub my stomach. Even Peece stared at him when he said that, but the kids seemed to enjoy it, so I simply threw glares at him for an hour as punishment.

I walked over to Katniss and smiled at her, Peeta coming over as well. "How are the hunting parties thus far?" I asked calmly, Spike climbing onto the archer's back so he wasn't in the way of our conversation. Smart devil.

"They're progressing better than I could have hoped." Katniss replied. "It seems someone may have been the inspiration for quite a few of them too."

"Katniss, there's no need to brag." I laughed. "You've been popular with hunters ever since you bested the capital the year you and Peeta competed in the Games."

"I wasn't talking about me!" she chuckled, punching my shoulder lightly. "I was actually paying you a compliment for once."

"Well sorry if I didn't catch it." I huffed in mock-anger. "I just thought, with the details of your victory being better known than mine, that you wanted bragging rights."

We laughed a little longer, bantering as Spike played in Katniss' hair. When we had calmed down, I grinned at them. "So, how long are you staying tonight?"

"Actually, we only came by for a brief visit." Peeta said, Hope having gone off to listen to Pinto's story a little while back. "Just to give you a heads up that Caesar is sending you another package from the Capital as a thank you for promoting him and making Panem a better place."

My eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Is he sending me more catnip?"

Last time Caesar had given me a care package, it had contained copious amounts of catnip. Peece hadn't know what it was and I had been out hunting at the time. She thought it was a freshener of some sort and spread it all over the house. Imagine her surprise and mine when I come home and immediately start laughing, my moods switching between happy and horny so quickly I could have given myself whiplash. It took days to gather all of it back into the basket. Now we only use it for special occasions.

"No." Katniss snickered. "He's sending fruits for Peece."

I nodded and turned to see Pinto walking over. "What's up, Pinto?"

"Nothing." he smiled at me. "Just wanted to come by and see how you and the family were. I have an appointment in half an hour, but I figured I could be a little late."

I felt touched that he would put off an appointment just to see us. "Thank you, Pinto. That means a lot to me."

He shrugged with a slight blush and I chuckled, ruffling his hair before turning back to Katniss and Peeta. "So then, I'll see you tomorrow for more training, Katniss?" I asked.

"You know it." she replied, beginning to retreat with Peeta. Spike hopped from her back and into my arms. I caught him easily and ruffled his hair as well while he waved to my mentors. Pinto gave me a quick hug of farewell, hurrying off as well with Conectivo and Boralia on his tail.

Turning back to the house, I found Peece watching me calmly, bright blue eyes sparkling at me as they always did. I gave her a slight smile and began carrying Spike toward the house, picking up Clawdia and Grace as I did.

Peece seemed to be one step ahead of me with Hope and Purrsilla. As she was disappearing into the house, she turned to me with a wink and moved backward, snagging a quick kiss from my lips before continuing inside. I glanced down at my kids with a goofy grin, their eyes staring at me in confusion. I simply shook my head and followed my girlfriend into the house.

Maybe I should propose. I'll have to have Pinto and Boralia help me find a ring.

**_…_**

_The world is made up of many evils and many goods. However, the line between good and evil will always become blurred when one's interest lies only in the well-being of another. The line is always blurred between those with their hearts in one place and those with their minds in another._

_However, there will always be the polar opposites, the ones that cannot be competed with due to the extremity of their cause._

_Peace and Joy. Chaos and Discord. Opposites that have no hope of surviving without each other. There will never be Peace without Chaos and there will never be Discord without Joy._

**_Alright, I'm going to be honest. That last part was a bunch of BS on my part, but it was literally the very first thing I wrote about the story and it became the basis of the entire thing. So, here we are. The very end of this book-like fic. How did all of you enjoy it? Let me tell you, I was definitely not expecting it to end this way, but I'm so happy that all of you decided to come on this wild ass ride with me and I'm thankful that you waited so long for me to update. You guys rock. The prequel is in progress, which means something else to look forward to, right? Happy New Year, everyone!_**

**_Also, I'm sorry it took so long and I'm working out a schedule as we speak, but just know, I'm in college and I have work to do so don't expect updates as often as you would want them to be... and don't hold me to any of my updates cause things happen._**

**_Aside from that, just wanted to let you guys know I'm now on Tumblr (gothalbinoangel-fiction), Twitter ((a)gothalbinoangel), a Facebook (Goth Albino Angel) and an Archive of Our Own account (GothAlbinoAngel). There are more details on my profile._**


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